Taxpayers Urged to Begin Preparations to File End of Year Returns

Taxpayers, particularly business operators, are being urged to begin to make preparations to file end of year tax returns and pay the relevant taxes. “Business persons are specially reminded that income tax filing season begins in earnest in January for the March 15 deadline, so we implore them to begin to put their records in order to meet the deadline,” said Public Relations Director at the Tax Administration Services Department of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Meris Haughton.
Miss Haughton, who was addressing a recent JIS News Think Tank, also made a special appeal to employers regarding the remittance of Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) deductions from employees’ salaries and wages.
“Employers, who throughout the year have not remitted PAYE deductions to the tax authorities, must make every effort to do so before January 15, 2008, as no penalties will be applied before that date. Tax payments are generally due by the 14th of every month,” she pointed out.
She reminded taxpayers to include their obligation to pay taxes in holiday spending plans and urged them to take advantage of the slow periods up to the 6th and the 28th of each month, to go into the Inland Revenue Departments and make the relevant payments.
She noted that the middle of each month when PAYE payments are due and the end of the month, when General Consumption Tax (G.C.T.) payments are due are the busiest periods for the departments.
Taxpayers can also take advantage of the online payment system at www.jamaicatax-online.gov.jm, particularly for GCT payments and for paying traffic fines.
For persons, who are concerned about carrying cash, debit and credit cards may be used to make payments at the Inland Revenue Departments.
In the meantime, there are plans to increase compliance and Miss Haughton said that “come January 15, 2008, an automated system will be used to calculate interest and penalties and generate reminder notices and we are going to become much more aggressive in efforts to get taxpayers to comply with more frequent reminders, including calls from our call centre.”
This added emphasis, she said, is to ensure that persons pay their fair share of taxes, no more and no less.
The regular business hours of the Inland Revenue Departments are: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Mondays to Wednesdays and 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. Miss Haughton said that there are no plans to extend these hours during the holiday season.