NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Officials at the Department of Inland Revenue yesterday lamented what they called the “unacceptable rate of non-compliance” among registered taxpayers over the past several years which has resulted in close to $1 billion in arrears.
Shunda Strachan, Acting Controller of the Department of Inland Revenue said yesterday that more than 70 percent of those arrears stem from taxes levied on commercial properties and vacant land owned by non-Bahamians.
Strachan noted that the Revenue Enhancement Unit was revived back in January.
She continued: “Over the last several years there has been an unacceptable rate of non-compliance. In total taxpayers have failed to file or pay close to $1 billion. We are seeing an increasing number of businesses failing to renew business licenses and VAT returns. We have identified businesses that are underreporting to avoid paying what they are obligated to pay.”
“More than 70 percent of property owners have had significant arrears and we are actively trying to collect those.”
Strachan noted that due to the government’s real property tax assessment exercise, more than 10,000 new properties have been added to the property tax register. According to Strachan, more than 51 percent of commercial properties in New Providence saw a tax increase this year by less than 30 percent or less than $500.
“More than 65 percent of owner-occupied and residential properties in New Providence saw no change or a decrease in their bill. About 30,000 residents saw a zero tax bill,” said Strachan.
Strachan said the Inland Revenue Department is working to ensure greater compliance by fostering greater public awareness and education.
LaPaige Gardiner, tax lead for the Revenue Enhancement Unit noted that audits by the unit have revealed a number of errors across the spectrum of taxpayers.
“Some of those errors include the under-reporting of revenue and non-compliant VAT invoices. We have also seen invoices without a TIN number. We have also seen claims where taxpayers are overclaiming on the input tax, adding up all invoices and multiplying that total by the VAT rate,” said Gardiner. She also noted that some persons who are not VAT registrants have been found to be charging and collecting VAT while some businesses which are VAT registrants have not been filing their returns.
The Inland Revenue Department has engaged the services of collections agencies for accounts that have been consistently delinquent.
