Govt cuts fees on late returns

Government is eliminating the late filing fee for zero returns with respect to income tax and value added tax and also reducing the late filing fee for personal income tax returns.

In addition, there will be a cap on the interest for outstanding contributions to the National Insurance Scheme.

This was announced last night by Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn during the wrap-up of the Budget Debate 2025 as he dealt with administrative matters which he did not speak about during the delivery of his Budget statement on Monday.

Pointing out that because of how the “system was”, it contributed to a lot of inefficiency, Straughn said: “To alleviate some of these issues and to enhance efficiency and reduce the administrative burden on the Barbados Revenue Authority, with respect to the Income Tax Act and Value Added Tax Act, I propose that from April 1, 2025, to eliminate the late filing fee for zero returns, which is consistent with international practice, (and) to reduce the late filing fee from $500 for personal income tax returns to $100 and for corporate tax returns to $250 with no future requests for amnesty permitted or rebating of these costs.”

He explained that the reason for this was to get companies and individuals to comply rather than having to write to the ministry for relief.

Burden

“It takes up a lot of time and effort to do and therefore we are making these arrangements in order to make sure that we encourage companies and individuals to do the right thing up front and to not have the penalties necessarily be a burden to individuals. Further, any penalties or interests applied to the taxpayer will be offset against any tax refund. So we’re trying to make sure that the system is as efficient as possible and therefore just permit the process to run much smoother.”

In addition, he said Government will also cap the total interest and penalties to no more than 25 per cent of the tax payable for late filings and interest, which, he noted, was consistent with international best practice.

“This will allow for a payment plan of up to 42 months to be agreed between the tax revenue authority and taxpayers without the need to waive penalties and interest. If full settlement is achieved within a 12-month period of the outstanding principal taxes, the taxpayer will receive the full relief from the penalties and interest,” he stated.

Continuing, he said: “Since we came to office, we entered in the arrangement where we settled via Series F bonds first, and then Series J over 42 months. We paid those persons who were owed by the Government over 42 months and we’re saying here, we’re giving you 42 months to be able to do what you have to do and make sure that it is settled clearly in order to make sure that everything is good. You can do it sooner, but we are saying no more than 25 per cent and you enter in the arrangement to be able to settle. We also permit taxpayers a grace period of five business days to make payment after filing personal and corporate tax before any late filing fees, Sir, or interest are applied.” Regarding the NIS scheme, the minister further explained: “For the purpose of settling outstanding national insurance contributions, I also propose to cap the interest to no more than 25 per cent of the outstanding contributions, effective April 1, and this would allow for a payment plan

of the same, up to the same 42 months, to be agreed between NIS and the employers or self-employed persons without the need to request a waiver.

Full relief

“All outstanding principal contributions within the 12-month period, employers and selfemployed persons will receive the full relief from interest, because we want people to be able to bring themselves straight as soon as possible. The payment settlement framework outlined above, between the BRA and the NIS, relates the total outstanding principal amounts owed to each institution of up to $1 million.”

Straughn, however, stressed that all requests for waivers above $1 million must still come to the Ministry of Finance for assessment while all taxpayers entering payment plans with the BRA or NIS for the settlement of arrears would be encouraged to set up a standing order or direct debit with the financial institution of their choice while staying current, with respect to the statutory obligations going forward.

He also announced that businesses entering these arrangements would have to comply in submitting data to various Government agencies.

“We’re saying that all businesses entering their payment arrangement to settle outstanding statutory obligations must participate in the balance of payment survey of the Central Bank of Barbados, in any business service conducted by the Barbados Statistical Service, any business service survey conducted by the Ministry’s Response for Agriculture, Culture, Labour and Tourism, or any other survey that the Ministry of Finance may determine for a period of five years. We need to get information from you in order to know what is happening with respect to the economy more broadly.”

Corporate tax reform

With respect to the corporate tax reform, Straughn once again revealed there were delays with respect to implementation due to constraints of the technology infrastructure.

He noted that to accommodate these pending changes in both the application of monthly corporation tax repayments for income years 2024 and 2025 and the filing of corporation tax returns for income year 2024, a remission of penalties and interest associated with the late payment of monthly corporation tax repayments as prescribed under the Income Tax Amendment and Validation Act 2024-15 for the payment period January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, would apply.

He also said there would be an extension of the March 15, 2025 corporate income tax filing date to March 31, 2025 to ensure that all companies were able to file their tax returns in a timely manner.

(MB)

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