Aggressive Tax Compliance Measures to be Applied After Amnesty Ends

The Tax Administration Services Department (TASD), is to launch an aggressive Tax Compliance Programme on November 1, as it takes a hard line stance against avoidance and delinquency.
Speaking to JIS News yesterday (Sept. 24), Director of Public Relations, Meris Haughton, said the Department is ready to bring tax dodgers to book.
“Come November 1, following the end of the tax amnesty on October 31, the Tax Administration Services Department, will be moving aggressively to put our tax compliance programme on full speed. What this means is that we will be using all avenues available to us through the law, to ensure that persons comply and do what it is they need to do in order to be compliant,” said Miss Haughton.
Advising persons to “pay what is due and no more no less,” she said, “we are encouraging persons to use this opportunity to pay what is due and benefit from the waivers on interest and penalties, because as of November 1, what we will be doing is moving to go at persons, whether it is through the courts, whatever means are available to us, we will be using all of them.”
“The implications for business persons coming forward to pay the taxes due is that you have persons who are now operating outside the law, meaning that they have their businesses but they operate below the radar,” Miss Haughton informed, warning however, that “we have mechanisms in place where we can actually identify these persons.”
“Once we have done this identification and we have raised an assessment on these persons, what we will be doing is to have them registered. We will be raising assessment on them and apply the applicable interest and penalties,” she explained.
The Public Relations Director added however, that “if they come in now and do their necessary registration and pay whatever is outstanding, they will get a tax break on the interest and penalties.”
In terms of how the TASD proceeds once a person has been identified, Miss Haughton said, “we send them a warning letter, what we call a notice of payment; where that is not dealt with by the person, we have the option of taking them to court or we have the option of confirming the assessment that we have raised on them and move in swiftly, in order to collect the outstanding amount, whether through the courts or a levy warrant to seize their goods.”
The TASD is encouraged by the result of the tax amnesty to date. “We can say that we are encouraged, from what I have seen I would say that we are ahead of the collection target at this point,” Miss Haughton said, while pleading with persons requiring further information to contact their local tax office or call 1-888-Tax-Help (1-888-829-4357).