Three tax depts to merge
Published:Wednesday | August 18, 2010 | 12:00 AM
The tax reform project, due to be wrapped up next, will separate the systems for domestic taxes and those linked to international trade, while three tax departments are slated to merge.
Under the Tax Administration Reform Project, ongoing since January 2009, the existing Inland Revenue, Taxpayer Audit & Assessment and Tax Administration Services Departments (TASD) will be consolidated into a single agency.
The merged entity will be called Jamaica Tax Administration (JTA), with responsibility for administering domestic tax, said TASD.
The new JTA will be led by a Commissioner General, a new post to be created under the reform programme. He or she will be supported by three deputy commissioner generals, whose separate divisional responsibilities will cover management services; operations; and legal support.
The four appointments are expected to be made and the positions filled by September 30.
The Customs Department will also become an executive agency, largely independent of the Government purse, and designated an "international tax authority", TASD said, while the Taxpayer Appeals Department will operate as "a separate appellate jurisdiction" under the umbrella of the Ministry of Finance.
The reforms are due to take effect April 1, 2011, but will take a year thereafter to be fully phased in, TASD said.
The reform project is led by Financial Secretary Dr Wesley Hughes.