NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Department of Inland Revenue is urging property owners who suspect their conveyances were not properly stamped when their property was purchased or willed to them to take advantage of its stamp amnesty.
This amnesty allows them to pay stamp tax based on the value of the land at the time it was purchased or acquired instead of its current value. When the amnesty period ends on November 30th, property owners will not only have to pay a percentage of the current assessed value of their property, but penalties could also be added.
Shunda Strachan, the Acting Controller of Inland Revenue, said during a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister: “Surprisingly, there are quite several properties out there where the owner would have purchased a property years ago at much lower values than they are valued now, but those documents were not recorded.”
She explained that the stamp leniency, or amnesty, allows property owners to have their documents stamped based on the value of the property at the time of purchase, whether it was 10, 15, or 20 years ago, rather than at today’s value.
For example, Strachan noted that a triplex, now valued at $350,000 without the amnesty, would attract a tax bill of $21,000. “It would be six percent of the $350,000 or $21,000 versus paying two percent on $100,000, the value you purchased the property for back in the day. We want to remind property owners that we are really at the halfway mark now because the amnesty came into force on May 29th and it runs until November 30th. If you’re a property owner and that property has not been stamped and recorded, we urge you to come in and take advantage of the amnesty.”
According to Strachan, Inland Revenue officials have been surprised to learn that many people were unaware of the stamp tax amnesty. “We’re not seeing the level of interest we expected, as persons haven’t been coming in in great numbers, but we know there is a significant number of persons who need it.”
Strachan acknowledged the challenges in identifying ownership of property, particularly in the Family Islands, where many properties have not been properly recorded.
