By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
Accountants yesterday urged the tax authorities to keep “the door fully open” for companies seeking to meet filing deadlines while urging the private sector to “apply lessons” from last year’s Business Licence woe.
Craig A. ‘Tony’ Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez accountant and managing partner, told Tribune Business he firmly believes “the vast majority” of companies want to fully meet their tax obligations and tomorrow’s Business Licence filing deadline - together with the earlier January VAT returns - should not be seized upon as “an opportunity to label willing payers as non-compliant’.
Reiterating that the Department of Inland Revenue (DIR) must ensure its online payment and filing portal is either fully functional, or create an “alternative” to ensure companies can meet deadlines established by law, he nevertheless praised the tax authority and Ministry of Finance for their flexibility in granting extensions for companies with $5m-plus annual turnovers to file their audited financial statements.
Mr Gomez was echoed by Pretino Albury, the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) president, who told this newspaper that accessing the Department of Inland Revenue’s (DIR) online portal, as well as companies obtaining “timely and accurate” answers to their queries, are among the major challenges impacting the Business Licence filing process using a system that is now in its second year.
Tax-paying businesses have until end-tomorrow to file their “actual” and “estimated” annual turnover for 2024 and 2025, respectively. Business Licence fees are calculated based on the gross revenue figures submitted, and companies have until March 31 to submit payments along with audited financial statements or a “review” certifying their accounts for those with turnover between $250,000 and $5m.
“As we approach the January 31 deadline for Business Licence renewals, several key issues have emerged,” Mr Albury told Tribune Business in a messaged reply to its inquiries. He confirmed that several companies with annual turnovers exceeding $5m have still to submit their audited financial statements for 2023 and the last Business Licence cycle as their internal “controls are not as good as they should be”.
“There are still businesses seeking extensions for audits and independent reviews from the previous renewal cycle. While the Department of Inland Revenue has been accommodating, they have indicated that a ‘hard-stop’ deadline will soon be announced. Any extensions beyond this point will attract penalties, as the focus shifts to managing the new reporting cycle for 2025,” the BICA president explained.
Dexter Fernander, the Department of Inland Revenue’s operations chief, yesterday confirmed that this ‘hard-stop’ deadline has been set at tomorrow, January 31 (see other article on Page 1B). Mr Albury, meanwhile, confirmed that companies and their advisers are still encountering challenges with accessing the tax authority’s filing/payment portal even though the situation has improved from last year.
“The Department of Inland Revenue’s online system has faced capacity and performance issues, particularly in the 2024 fourth quarter and early 2025. This has impacted businesses attempting to file 2024 fourth quarter VAT returns, due on January 21, alongside their Business Licence turnover reports due on January 31,” he added.
“While improvements in bandwidth have been observed at certain times, stability remains a concern as we near the deadline. Discussions with the Department of Inland Revenue have highlighted a commitment to long-term solutions, including the potential replacement of the current portal with a more robust system and enhanced support services.”
Mr Albury also raised ongoing concerns with the Department of Inland Revenue’s responsiveness to taxpayer queries and the quality of answers provided. “Many businesses have struggled to receive timely and adequate responses from the Department of Inland Revenue, leading to delays in filings,” he added.
“There have been cases where inquiries went unanswered or responses lacked sufficient detail. The Department of Inland Revenue has acknowledged these concerns and has recently expanded its legal and inquiry teams to improve response times and the quality of guidance provided, particularly as businesses prepare for the new tax year.”
Describing January and the year’s early months as somewhat “chaotic” for accountants and their corporate clients due to the amount of tax filing and compliance work, Mr Albury told Tribune Business that there is “no breathing room” with Business Licence return filings following so swiftly behind January’s VAT returns. The two are ten days apart, and then Business Licence fee payments are due by end-March.
With the latest Business Licence legislation and reforms now in effect for a second year, the BICA chief said many businesses were adopting the attitude ‘fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice, shame on you’, and readying themselves to complete audited financial statements earlier.
“Ultimately, early preparation is key. Businesses should apply lessons from last year’s experience with the new Business Licence Act to ensure timely compliance with the January 31 and March 31 deadlines,” Mr Albury reiterated. “Clients are being more aggressive trying to get ready this time around. People want to start earlier because of the experience last year...
“I think from the last time folks appear to be better prepared and they want this to be done early. They don’t want the ‘to June, July’ extensions that they’ve been getting. They want to get it done early. There’s still much to be said about certain businesses and improving their controls. Some businesses are private and certain controls are not as good as we’d like them to be.
“We’ve seen some improvements there, but to jump back right to it. You finished for 2023 some four to five months ago, and are now right back to it and did not have much time to do improvements. That’s where most people are in that phase. We’re still concerned, but it’s sort of a good sign those that experienced it last year are now prepared and ready to get it done.”
The BICA president said “the biggest concern” is for companies who still have outstanding audited financial statements for 2023 along with those firms whose 2024 turnover now exceeds $5m and will now be subject to this process for the first time.
Mr Albury confirmed the concerns over the Department of Inland Revenue’s online portal, noting that while it was down earlier this month “it seems to have improved recently” after the tax authority pledged to increase the bandwidth. And, as for its response to taxpayer inquiries, the BICA president said it was often the case for businesses that “even if you find someone to talk there is no one to help”.
“However, he acknowledged: “The Department of Inland Revenue have made some improvements. They have beefed up their personnel with some new folks there, probably to deal with inquiries. They’ve made some improvements compared to the prior year, beefed up their legal and inquiries section so they can handle some if the inquiries coming in. We’ll see what it does.”
Mr Gomez, meanwhile, urged the tax authorities: “Business entities are prepared to pay. They want to be fully compliant. Please open the door fully so those able and willing to pay are able to enter therein. If there are still filing issues, we look forward to the Department of Inland Revenue leading taxpayers as to how they can file properly and be compliant.
“This is not an opportunity to label willing taxpayers as non-compliant. This is not that kind of opportunity.” Acknowledging that “there is always a hectic pace” associated with tax filings and payments, Mr Gomez said it was vital that “all systems are working” and all parties - taxpayers, financial advisers, tax advisers and accountants, as well as the tax authorities - collaborate to achieve their mutual beneficial interests.
“The bottom line is you cannot have accountants and their clients working and the system be down,” he added. “The Government has to ensure these systems are working or create alternatives to file via the portal. I continue to repeat that I think the vast majority of tax-paying businesses, business persons or entities, the vast majority of them want to be compliant so help them to be as compliant as they can.
“We understand things happen with the portal; that’s not unusual, but if the portal is down create the alternative.”
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