Tax Amnesty Drawing to a Close
Taxpayers have less than a week to participate in the Tax Amnesty programme which draws to a close on November 30, 2017. The amnesty was announced in May during the Minister of Finance’s Budgetary Proposal as an additional period for taxpayers to benefit from the waiver of penalties and interest on taxes owed to the Authority.
Manager Communications and PR at the Authority, Carolyn Williams-Gayle, indicated that there were currently no plans to extend the six-month amnesty beyond the November deadline.
“Taxpayers with delinquent tax bills have until November 29 to take advantage of the amnesty programme. That date marks the final day of the amnesty and the opportunity for taxpayers to save on their outstanding tax bills, as all of the penalties and interest will be waived once the principle is paid in full by that date,” said Williams-Gayle.
The taxes eligible for the waiver of penalty and interest in this Tax Amnesty programme are Value Added Tax (VAT), Land Tax, Income Tax, P.A.Y.E. and Corporation Tax. Williams-Gayle urged taxpayers to use these last few days to make the necessary arrangements to bring their tax arrears up to date.
“We are encouraging persons to come in early to meet with the team in the Tax Arrears Management Unit to bring their tax arrears up to date and to avoid the last minute rush to the deadline as we have seen in previous programmes. Taxpayers can visit the units at our offices in the Treasury Building or Holetown,” she shared.
“This Friday is the deadline for persons to take advantage of the five per cent discount on land tax bills, so there may be a surge then. However, we also want to note that our offices will be closing early next Wednesday, so we are asking persons to keep this in mind when coordinating their business next week.”
Application forms for the Tax Amnesty Programme may be collected from the Authority’s offices the Treasury Building, Weymouth Corporate Centre, Warrens Tower II, Holetown and Southern Plaza Oistins or downloaded from the Authority’s website at www.bra.gov.bb.