TAAD Stages Forum In Montego Bay

To enlighten members of the public about the services offered by the Taxpayer Audit and Assessment Department (TAAD), the agency staged a public forum in Montego Bay yesterday (February 5).
Held under the theme: ‘Stamp Duty, Transfer Tax and You’, the focus was on Stamp Duty and Transfer Tax.
Commissioner of the TAAD, Vinette Keene, explained that the main aim of the forum was to make the department more accessible to the public. “We want to be more accessible to the public, because we find that stamp duty and transfer tax are seen as a mystery, and we are trying to demystify this,” she said.
Mrs. Keene told JIS News that this was the second such forum staged by the TAAD, and the strategy was to have them on a regular basis across the island. She spoke of the face-to-face contacts with users of the services, describing these as essential to the development of the department.
Other presenters were Deputy Commissioner, Beverley Reid, who gave an overview of the Stamp Duty and Transfer Tax Division; Assistant Commissioner for Valuations and Collections, Judith Churnside and Assistant Commissioner for Estate, Registry and Daily Assessment, Esther McLean, who made presentations about their respective areas of responsibility.
President of the Cornwall Bar Association, Clayton Morgan, told JIS News that the forum was very interesting, and was something that western Jamaica needed for a long time.
“There were some burning issues which lawyers and other members of the community were able to put forward, and we believe that they were adequately addressed,” he said.