Jamaican Tax Office Embarks On Intensified Tax Evasion Crackdown

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

06 January 2009

The Jamaican Tax Administration has warned that it plans to undertake a large-scale crackdown on delinquent taxpayers following the government’s six-month tax amnesty, which ended on October 31.

Since November, the Tax Administration has stepped up its compliance activities against delinquent taxpayers; as part of its compliance drive, legal action has been initiated against approximately 200 taxpayers who have reported owing taxes on their tax returns, but have failed to make the payments. Summonses valued at JMD553m (USD6.91m) have been served on self-employed persons and companies across the island, for failing to pay or make arrangements to pay their outstanding taxes. Court dates have been set for January 2009.

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD), which is the government’s tax collection arm, is also using Levy Warrants in respect of the more difficult tax cases. A Levy Warrant allows for goods to be seized and auctioned if necessary to recover taxes owed. In an effort to deal with the most difficult and persistent delinquent cases, the services of a collections specialist and a bailiff have been engaged. It should be noted that once a case has been turned over to the collections specialist or legal action has been initiated, then persons will lose the option of negotiating with the Commissioner.

Additionally, the IRD and the Taxpayer Audit and Assessment Department (TAAD) are working in partnership to focus on examining records and returns filed for moneys collected in “trust” on behalf of the government, such as General Consumption Tax (GCT), Education Tax and Income Tax (PAYE). Special attention is being paid on these types of taxes to ensure that what is collected is duly paid over to the Collector of Taxes. Where it is found that these amounts are not paid over or that there is a false declaration by the taxpayer, then strong measures are taken against these persons. In a recent case the Managing Director and Accountant of Cabletron Network System Ltd. were taken before the Court and fined for 27 counts of False Declaration for wrongfully filing nil GCT returns.

The Jamaican Tax Authority has said the increased compliance activities will be sustained for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2009.

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