Roadtown, Tortola - Government has granted the Payroll Tax Review Committee an additional 60 days to complete and submit the overall report which will include the findings of the review recently conducted on the current payroll tax regime. 

The report which should have been submitted in June by the committee will now be submitted in August.  Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE at the July 24 sitting of the House of Assembly informed the members that the committee has been given a 60-day extension to complete the report.  

“There is still some outstanding information that is needed to assist the committee in its deliberations and in order for members to conduct a thorough analysis and present the best possible solutions, an extension of 60 days on the initially agreed deadline was requested and granted,” the Finance Minister said.

Honourable O’Neal added that the new deadline is now August 31, 2009 and the committee has been working diligently to carry out its mandate of compiling the report.  

In April of 2009, the committee completed the consultative process on which they had embarked to seek public feedback on the current payroll tax regime.

The committee engaged in a series of public meetings on Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke and Anegada to collect public opinion on the tax regime. 

Committee members also met with a number of organisations including the BVI Bar Association, the Taxi Association, BVI Association of Professional Accountants, BVI Contractors Association, BVI Association of Registered Agents, and all Government statutory bodies.  A payroll tax questionnaire was also disseminated around the Territory to collect information.

The committee is currently working on the last phase of the review which is the final assessment.  In this stage the committee is taking into consideration their review of the Payroll Tax Act and the interim report that was done in the first phase and the external review with all the stakeholders, which included meetings with non-governmental organisations, statutory bodies, government officials, self-employed persons and the public, in addition to the findings of the payroll tax questionnaire. 

According to the committee, the purpose of the meetings and the survey was to determine public opinion on the current payroll tax regime.  Information and comments received from the public will form part of the overall report. 

The Payroll Tax Review Committee was appointed by Government on June 23, 2008.  The responsibilities of the committee are to review the Payroll Tax Act, 2004; identify inconsistencies within the Payroll Taxes Act; and make recommendations for amendments, or if deemed to be so, repeal the Payroll Taxes Act.