Tax amnesty enters last day

Taxpayers have been racing to take advantage of a tax amnesty extension which ends on Friday, a Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) spokesman has said.

Since the extension was announced, there has been heavy foot traffic at the authority’s six locations, from early in the morning right through to the afternoon, according to the BRA’s Communications and Public Relations Manager, Carolyn Williams-Gayle.

BRA announced on Monday that given the strong response to the amnesty proposed by the Minister of Finance on June 11, it had sought the Ministry’s permission to extend the application period for the amnesty. The ministry has agreed and the authority will be accepting applications until tomorrow.

Throughout the day there was a long line at BRA’s Weymouth, St Michael offices, as Barbadians took advantage of the extension of Government’s tax amnesty programme.

Williams-Gayle told Barbados TODAY: “Tomorrow is the last day for which people can take advantage of the tax amnesty. We are happy that people have decided to take the opportunity that has been extended to them and that we are seeing heavy foot traffic as persons are coming in to bring their tax arrears up to date. Tomorrow is the last day and we know that the traffic we have been seeing over the past couple days, will continue.”

The taxes eligible for the waiver of penalty and interest in this tax amnesty programme are Valued Added Tax (VAT), Land Tax, Income Tax, P.A.Y.E. and Corporation Tax.

When Barbados TODAY visited BRA’s office at Weymouth, St Michael, there was a long line of people waiting to take advantage of the reprieve.

The waiver of penalty and interest applies to taxes owed to Government between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2017.