ST. JOHN'S Antigua, June 18th, 2012 -- Residents will have the option of paying their taxes online in the next 18 to 24 months, Acting Commissioner of Inland Revenue Department Ralph Warner said.
Walker was speaking on Friday, June 15, at the official opening of the new premises for the IRD, at Woods Centre.
The Acting Commissioner said the IRD holds the distinction in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) of having the best quarters for a tax agency. But Warner said this is just the beginning.
“I (realise) that if we the staff members of the IRD are to collect the budgeted allocation for 2012 and beyond, our approach to tax collection would have to be different. We would have to reposition the department, so that we can take advantage of the modern tools that EW available today to tax administrators,” Warner said.
He advised that between the next year-and-a-half and two years, taxpayers will be able to make payments online or at commercial banks.
Before that, though, Warner said, taxpayers will have the option of using their credit cards or debit cards to pay. The timeframe for this was given as “the next few weeks.”
Customers of IRD may also look forward, shortly, to email updates on their tax statues. Warner said this would be quarterly, in the first instance, and then monthly thereafter.
“Taxpayers will receive account statements showing their tax status and any outstanding amounts that are owed to the department,” Warner said.
Friday’s opening also highlighted the new customer-first ethos, with Minister of Finance, the Economy and Public Administration Harold Lovell noting that “an informed taxpayer is a compliant taxpayer.”
Warner said the shift in approach has seen intensive training programmes for the 123 employees, with technical assistance from regional and international agencies.
“Ninety per cent of the staff, in the next two years, will be technical individuals, specialising in audit and investigation; collection and enforcement; data capture and assessment; filing and compliance; monitoring; taxpayer services; records management, and property evaluation services,” Warner said.
He told the gathering that the focus of the IRD is on providing efficient service, with adaptability, fairness, integrity and professionalism.
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