The 11th January, 2011 post-Cabinet Press Briefing informs that Prime Minister Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, who is also the Minister of Finance, informed that as of 15th December, 2011 several businesses has not yet handed over their VAT collections.
He reported that, “a number of business entities who having registered and who having collected the VAT from its customers, have not filed nor paid the collected tax to the Inland Revenue Department.
“The government views this kind of practice as not only inimical to the welfare of the country but also as an affront, if not an assault, on the laws of the land and the integrity of the state. Government intends to apply the full force of the law to ensure that taxes which the citizens of this country have already paid to business establishments are transmitted to the Inland Revenue Department for the benefit of the people.”
The report noted that Cabinet was in support of the Prime Minister and the Inland Revenue Department, “for drastic taking into hand of this matter concerning the failure of those businesses to file and pay their taxes.”
In addition, Prime Minister Douglas informed Cabinet that a number of businesses have complied with the VAT legislation.
He indicated that as of 15th December, 2010, “Several hundred businesses had registered to collect the VAT and that the VAT unit was actively monitoring these businesses to ascertain that proper standards are maintained relative to the collection and payment of the new tax. It was reported that on December 15, the first day on which tax filing in respect of the VAT was due, and even prior to that date, a healthy number of businesses had filed their value-added tax with the Inland Revenue Department,” the post-Cabinet Press Briefing informed.