Quote Originally Posted by yooper bill View Post
Interesting article in this mornings Gleaner about tax compliance in Jamaica. The article states there are 63,000 registered companies in Jamaica. Only 3,500 regularly pay taxes. Not sure what this means, but thought it was interesting.
The current tax system can be rather confusing for the average business. Besides GCT (sales tax) which is made rather easy to pay each month, there are other employee taxes that include NIS, NHT, PAYEE, Education and HEART taxes which are paid in different ways. A TCC (Tax Compliance Certificate) is currently necessary when a business makes major purchases or investments such as importing items or purchasing a vehicle. When a TCC is needed by a business that is behind in their taxes, they hire an accountant to get caught up with all their taxes and fines so they are not considered "regular tax payers". But they do end up paying their taxes.

An interesting point is made in the article about the difficulty in paying taxes: "Despite the Fiscal Systems Modernisation project, aimed at increasing tax compliance, reducing costs and improving efficiency in the public sector, business processes and re-designed organisational structures to strengthen tax compliance, and improve customer service, have been found wanting."