Last-minute rush

Long lines were the order of the day at the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) offices as persons rushed to ensure the September 30 deadline for personal income tax payments and vehicle registration sticker attachments was not missed.

Yesterday was the final day for persons to make their 2018 Personal Income Tax payments without penalty or interest and for drivers to have registration stickers affixed to their rear license plates or risk a fine of $5 000.

At all locations – the Treasury Department, Roebuck Street, Oistins, the Pine, Warrens and Holetown, long queues started to form before office opening hours and continued to grow throughout the day.

At the often quiet Holetown branch, the line stretched out the door soon after they opened, with one customer saying she had arrived at 7:20 a.m. only to find 25 other persons ahead of her.

During the afternoon, another who had been queued in the winding Oistins line for almost two hours, decided to leave and try the Warrens branch instead. However, after another hour and a half wait, she was still outside the building.

“I need to get this sticker because I cannot afford to be fined, but the line is just not moving,” she stated.

In an interview, Communications Officer with BRA Erica Lazare said all locations had reported heavy traffic throughout the day, and while many clients were ensuring the second half of their personal income tax had been paid up and were receiving vehicle stickers, others had also come in to make land tax payments and therefore gotten caught up in the last-minute rush.

“What has happened is that a lot of people waited until the last minute to come in and not only that, but people are coming in with five and six insurance certificates to get the stickers for their friends and relatives, so that has added to the delays,” she stated.

While unable to say whether an extension would be granted due to the delays. Lazare noted that with the introduction of online payments through EZPay+, these long lines may soon become a thing of the past.

“People will be able to make land tax payment via EZPay + and we are looking to get other taxes online when this pilot project is complete,” she stressed. (JMB)