No BRA rush

It appears that Barbadians have taken advantage of the one-month extension granted by Prime Minister Mia Mottley for regularizing outstanding road taxes and getting the officials stickers to show compliance with the road traffic regulations.

In a scene which was different from last month, there were no long, snaking lines at offices of the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA).

Public Relations Manager for the state revenue collection agency, Carolyn Williams-Gayle told Barbados TODAY that persons came in steadily throughout the month and it was no surprise that there was no last minute dash this time around.

“The lines were sporadic today. There was a lull at times and other times the locations were full and this was because today was also the deadline for land tax bills. However, we never had any situations where lines were stretching through the door and we had more than sufficient tellers on hand to deal with any influxes,” said Williams-Gayle.

Barbados TODAY visited BRA offices in Bridgetown, Weymouth and the Pine and spoke to several persons conducting business with the Government agency.

“It wasn’t any worse than usual today. I came to pay my aunt’s land tax [bill] and it took me about 30-40 minutes to get through and that is the length of time that it would normally take when I come down here. So it was really just smooth, no rush really,” said Sandra
Wilkinson, who tended to her affairs this morning at BRA’s location at the Treasury building.

“It was a little heavier than usual up at Weymouth but nothing to really shout about. I came to register a vehicle that I just bought, went in about 10 a.m. and I was out after 11 a.m. The one or two people I talked to didn’t really come for stickers, so it was just like a normal day of business to me,” said Ivor McIntyre.

Sunita Doyle told pretty much the same story, saying that while lines at the Pine were long as customary, there was no major sense of frustration among persons doing business there. In fact, she noted that persons allowed her to go to the top of the line because she was carrying an infant.

“I went to get the sticker because I was owing tax from last year. The lines at the Pine are normally long and I asked my boss for the day off to deal with it, so I was in no real hurry but persons told me to go to the top of the line so I got through really fast,” she said.

Two days after the frustration of motorists bubbled to the surface, as chaotic scenes were the result of the frenzied last minute rush to meet the original September 30 deadline, Mottley announced that an extension would be granted until  the beginning of November 2019. She said any prosecution of offenders would be delayed as the new deadline would be observed. colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb