Income Tax refunds: Gov’t bringing down arrears

Income Tax refunds: Gov’t bringing down arrears

Government is intent on keeping its promise to pay Personal Income Tax refunds in the same year in which they have been filed and Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Ryan Straughn said they are on track to do so again this year.

He made the comments while leading off the debate on the Land Tax (Amendment) Bill in the Lower House yesterday morning. He explained that the Mia Mottley Administration when it came to office in May 2018, decided that it would address the arrears Government owed to Barbadians, as a signal that they were intending to put this country back on track. He made the comments while indicating that the Government has been working hard over the last several months to stay current with its obligations.

“Over the course of the last few weeks the Revenue Authority has been paying to the citizens of Barbados those Income Taxes that they filed for 2018 Sir, and that process shall continue over the next couple of weeks, so that the signal that we are sending to Barbadians, is that this Government intends to hold close, very, very close to our word in terms of delivery,” he said.

Straughn added, that where issues arise, they will communicate such to the public and will work “doubly hard” to regain that trust and confidence in terms of the administration of taxation and the administration of government that was lost.

“When the Revenue Authority over the next few weeks complete the payment for 2018 Income Taxes, that too Sir will be a signal to Barbadians that the reforms that we are putting in place would not just in a sense return this back to normal, but the manner in which we are now seeking to move forward. I take this opportunity to say to public that it is our intent to move Sir away from the issuance of cheques in the system,” he stated.

According to Minister Straughn, the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) moving in the direction of direct deposits, is a major step in helping to reform the tax system and improve the payment of refunds. He made the point while explaining that the printing and issuance of refund cheques to taxpayers is a time consuming process.

“We want to move to a digital space and we are moving as quickly as we can in that space and so therefore, through you I would want to ask citizens who have bank accounts or credit union accounts to be able to supply that information to the Revenue Authority,” he said.

The Minister added, “We are minimising the number of cheques that are being printed, simply because Sir that whole process simply takes too long… What we are trying to do is move to a digital space so people don’t have to be stuffing envelopes, that is a waste of people’s time. We want to pay directly into your bank account because it allows the Revenue Authority, it allows Government to be able to do business better.”

Speaking more to the efforts to address the arrears in terms of tax refunds, he said on the personal income tax side of things they have paid 2011, 2012 and 2013 to date. With that in mind, he said if there is anyone who is still owed refunds for those years, they should contact the BRA to have it addressed. He made point while indicating that in this second year of the BERT Plan, they intend to pay the arrears for2014, 2015 and 2016. (JRT)