Tax Department seizes assets of delinquents
Published:Wednesday | March 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
A special enforcement team from the Tax Administration Department has seized 30 high-end motor vehicles valued at about J$32 million as it continues its drive to seize the assets of delinquent taxpayers.
The Inland Revenue Depart-ment, which is responsible for the collection of taxes, is now seeking to dispose of the vehicles by way of sealed bids, to be submitted to its downtown Kingston offices by Friday, March 25.
The proceeds will be used to offset the liabilities of the delinquent taxpayers.
The vehicles, which include Mitsubishi Pajeros, Land Cruisers, BMWs, Range Rovers and a Mercedes Benz, were seized in Kingston, Montego Bay, St James; Mandeville, Manchester; May Pen in Clarendon and St Ann's Bay, St Ann.
Last week, the Tax Admini-stration Department announced that the vehicles were seized during operations carried out by the special enforcement team over the past few months.
"This process of enforcement by law is and remains constant within the purview of tax administration to bring delinquent taxpayers in line," said Meris Haughton, director of communications in the Tax Administration Services Department.
The Tax Administration Department declined to supply data on the number of delinquent taxpayers or provide an estimated value of the outstanding taxes, but said the period under consideration was from the 1990s to present.
Strengthening capacity
The seizure of the motor vehicles comes on the back of a pronouncement by Audley Shaw, minister of finance and the public service, during his budget presentation in Parliament last year, that the Tax Administration Department would intensify its enforcement actions against delinquent taxpayers in the 2010-11 fiscal year. He also said the compliance and enforcement capabilities of the Department would be strengthened.
Data from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service shows that the government has collected $245.6 billion in tax revenues for the period April to January 2011. But that is still $5.8 billion short of the $251.4 billion budgeted to be collected for the period.
Last year, the tax authorities seized assets of several prominent entertainers to recover unpaid taxes.