Dominicans have until tomorrow, March 31st, to file their tax returns in order to avoid paying a penalty.
Acting Assistant Comptroller, Audit LMTS, Jeoffrey Joseph, is encouraging the public to meet that filing deadline.
The tax filing season is the period between the 1st of January and 31st of March during which an income earner makes a declaration to the comptroller of Inland Revenue of his or her annual income and the related taxes applied to it.
“I would like to encourage everyone to file their taxes on time,” Joseph said on Prime Minister Skerrit’s Anou Pale programme on Sunday. “We are encouraging everyone to continue filing, those who have been filing and those who have not filed come to visit the Inland Revenue Division to get your taxes up-to-date.”
Late filing attracts a 5 percent late penalty and there’s also a 10 percent payment penalty and according to Joseph, taxpayers who are unable to file their taxes by the due date, need to write to the Comptroller of Inland Revenue to inform him of the reason and he will decide whether or not to grant the extension.
“That is supposed to be done before the end of the filing period,” he stated.
Joseph stressed the importance of filing in order to declare one’s income to the Comptroller of Inland Revenue.
“It is a different process from actually paying taxes, because you can actually file your taxes without having any liability if when we look at what the law stipulates based on your income and your type of activities, you do not have to pay any taxes,” he explained. “Filing taxes is a lot different than paying the taxes.”
“The filing process is a matter of making the declaration to the comptroller so that you can determine whether or not you have actually paid your correct amount of taxes,” Joseph added.
This year persons are encouraged to file paper-based returns.
“However, Joseph indicated that the Inland Revenue has set up an online system where persons are allowed to access the website www.ird.gov.dm .
They are then asked to click on the forms section and choose the form that relates to their type of filing.
The form can be downloaded, filled out and scanned along with other supported documents then e-mailed to [email protected].
Assistant Comptroller, Collections LMTS, Lydia Talbot, pointed out that although the filing due date is March 31st, there are also operations whose financial year ends on December 31st.
She said those operations would have t file their tax returns three months after the end of their financial year.
“You have a tax corporation with fiscal year ending June 30th, that corporation would have three (3) months thereafter, to file their tax returns. That means they would have to file by September,” Talbot explained, pointing out that corporations are supposed to file tax returns whether they make a profit or a loss.
Every resident individual whose employment income is in excess of $30,000 as well as self-employed persons such as contractors, vendors, hairdressers, doctors, lawyers are also supposed to file a tax return.
Talbot explained that there are also the non-residents who are supposed to file a tax return but are not entitled to claim any residential tax allowance.
The tax official made it clear that only those who are exempt from tax by virtue of section 25 of the Income Tax Act such as the pensioners, the fishermen and others in agriculture are not required to pay tax.
She said unlike the corporate income tax where there is a standard rate of 25 percent, for the personal income tax which is a progressive tax, meaning that the higher the chargeable income, the higher tax paid, “so anything in excess of the $30,000 the difference will be charged from zero to $20,000, the difference will be charged at 15 percent, anything from $20,001 to $50,000 tax rate is at 25 percent and anything above $50,000 tax rate is at 35 percent.”
Meantime, Prime Minister Skerrit said his government has started a process of reviewing the country’s tax system.
“The IMF is helping us in reviewing the tax system, we have been held back because of Covid …,” he said. “I am of the view that we should look at a simplified system and one flat rate.”
What is the Government doing to get those owing millions to pay?
Joseph knew good and well that the online system is down.
In a society where Citizens feel justly treated they’re proud to pay their taxes. Sad to say that the opposite is also true for two reasons.
1.The tax rates are comparatively high given average wage and the cost of living in that country (That VAT should be abolished or in the least reduced by half to 7.5%, Revise the Port Charges (140% on a vehicle, is criminal) and 30% on commercial Profits is a major money grab)
2. There appears also to be a serious pervasive problem of malfeasance among the high ranking Government officials in Dominica. Much tax revenue is lost there and many of them cannot explain their wealth accumulation through their legal means of income.
So yes yes pay your taxes but poor people feel cheated, especially the middle class. Enforce the Law on all.
It’s good to ask people to file taxes early but we should also expose those people, especially government ministers and friends of the government, whose legal income is much lower than their riches. We should be in a position to force them to tell us the source of their riches. I still Red but I want to know what is the source of their riches
Another propaganda rubbish go away blue boom-boom fly and change ya under pant!
How do you know? Are you the accountant of one or more government minister? You are full of bull manure. Spare us your verbal diarrhoea.
Why did you all not get the E-filing working on time?
@Tangled Weave, please explain your comment properly what you mean!