More promises to clamp down on tax evaders
June 29, 2006
GOVERNMENT has once again reiterated its intention to go after corporate entities and individuals who continually evade the tax net and fail to comply with the country's revenue laws and regulations.
Deputy Financial Secretary Annmarie Rhoden said there are numerous demands on the Government for recurrent and capital expenditure and therefore it is imperative that "revenue intake be maximised and tax evasion minimised".
She was addressing approximately 70 graduates from the Tax Administration Service Department's, Tax Audit and Revenue Administration Post Graduate Diploma graduation exercise, at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston yesterday.
Rhoden said with the negative impact of several international and domestic events which have stymied fiscal operations and the overall health of the economy, "the need to utilise innovative and aggressive tax collection strategies, and plug the loopholes used by habitual tax dodgers to achieve the desired level of buoyancy in the revenue intake was clear".
She said tax auditors and tax administrators had an essential role to play in maintaining the efficiency and the integrity of the system, as well as in helping to influence the overall level of revenue that flows into the consolidated fund.
"As trained tax professionals, you are uniquely positioned to contribute to this process by enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of revenue assessments, collection and general tax payer services", she told the group.
Rhoden also charged the graduates not to take their responsibilities lightly, particularly in view of "the severe budgetary constraints currently being experienced and the need to curb the public debt; the servicing of which is projected at 59 per cent of the 2006/07 budget".
Rhoden, who was speaking on behalf of Deputy Financial Secretary Colin Bullock, said while it was recognised that there would always be people who seek to evade their tax obligations, the 'habitual tax evaders' were the most cause for concern.
"Some persons have become habitual professional tax evaders. They sit around, they don't pay any taxes and wait for an amnesty to be declared. And so, what you find is that in 2006 some of those persons are paying taxes that they were required to pay in 1999," Rhoden noted....
Author: Alicia Dunkley
Source: Jamaica Observer
