Voluntary Tax Compliance Up

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service is reporting improvements in Tax Administration Jamaica’s (TAJ) voluntary compliance matrix for the first quarter of the 2017/18 fiscal year, between April and June.

According to the 2017/18 Fiscal Policy Paper Interim Report, upticks were recorded in taxpayer registration, on-time payment rates, and audits conducted.

The document, which was tabled in the House of Representatives by Portfolio Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, on September 26, notes that programme execution has resulted in 6,506 new taxpayers being registered; an audit yield of $552 million from 6,315 taxpayers investigated under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Threshold Abuse Programme; and on-time payment rates being increased from 86.5 per cent to 97 per cent.

The Report indicates that these engagements were supported by a special registration programme aimed at identifying delinquent taxpayers from a listing of 28,808 companies that were removed from the register of the Companies Office of Jamaica.

A total of 8,343 matches were confirmed with the TAJ’s database, of which 1,669 were identified as stop-filers, while further analysis is continuing to determine the tax status of the remaining businesses.

Special enforcement activities by the TAJ have recovered $101.7 million from chronic delinquent taxpayers and tax evaders, the Report states. Additionally, it says four cases have been referred for prosecution.

Meanwhile, the Report says the TAJ has commenced implementation of its 2017/18 strategic plan, which has begun to bear fruit, noting that revenues continue to outperform targets and last year’s collections.

As at the end of July, collections were 7.8 per cent ahead of target and 8.3 per cent above last year’s intake.

The Report notes that consequent on the implementation of the Revenue Administration Information System (RAiS), taxpayers continue to benefit from the ease of online services provided, adding that the TAJ has strengthened its capabilities to better identify delinquent taxpayers for appropriate action.