By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterTHE INLAND Revenue Department is now calling for reports from tax collectorates islandwide to ascertain the current status on their collection of statutory deduction from Government agencies, ministries and departments.
Acting assistant commissioner in charge of compliance at Inland Revenue Department, Flynn Martin, said yesterday that a memo to that effect is being sent out to all tax collectorates.
This follows last month's report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which said that several such organisations were not paying over the statutory funds to revenue agencies. The PAC condemned their actions as "a moral hazard", concerned that the non-payment would deny employees their benefits.
The deductions are taken from employees' salaries each month but are often used by the cash-strapped departments as working capital.
The PAC's annual report, tabled in Parliament last Tuesday, covers the period October 2001 to February 2002 and followed last year's damning report from Auditor-General Adrian Strachan.
It listed the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Social Development Commission (SDC), Directorate of Electrical and Mechanical Services, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Jamaica Agricultural Society and former solid waste entities, Metropolitan Parks and Markets (MPM) and Central Parks and Markets as among those owing outstanding amounts.
Figures released last year showed that the Fire Brigade had $122.72 million outstanding for the period January 1999 to June 2000; that the SDC failed to hand over $24.50 million for most of 2001, and that MPM owed $20.1 million dating back to 1994.
Mr. Strachan, in his annual report for the period ending March 31, 2002, noted that the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) had failed to hand over $686.2 million in education tax and income tax which represent salary deductions for the period October 2000 to March 2002.
Since then SERHA has started making payments as well as clearing arrears. Director of finance at SERHA, Erica McNeil, told The Gleaner earlier this week that "the situation has changed".
She said that for Kingston and St. Andrew, there is an agreement with the Inland Revenue Department, where SERHA pays $10 million per month, $9 million for income tax arrears and $1 million for education tax arrears. For St. Catherine, SERHA is paying $5 million per month and for St. Thomas, $2.5 million is being paid on arrears plus another $2.5 million to keep the books current.
Ms. McNeil said that SERHA began paying the arrears for St. Catherine and St. Thomas six months ago while that for Kingston and St. Andrew started two months ago.
In addition, SERHA received help from the Ministry of Health which paid $54.1 million toward income and education tax arrears in October 2002 and $44.1 million towards arrears in January 2003. About $40.9 million of the latter sum went for income tax arrears and $3.3 million for education tax, Mrs McNeil said.
In addition, the Inland Revenue Department announced that effective March 10 to May 16, tax offices at Constant Spring, Cross Road, Montego Bay and Savanna-la-Mar will open at 7:30 a.m. to facilitate taxpayers.
The Department will also be offering assistance to small businesses, professionals and self-employed persons in filing their income tax returns so they can meet the March 15 deadline.
