The Barbados Revenue Authority has completed the issuance of tax refunds for 2022 Reverse Tax Credits and 2022 Personal Income Tax.
The Authority’s Headquarter Services leader, Carolyn Williams-Gayle noted that Personal Income Tax (PIT) refunds and Reverse Tax Credit (RTC) payments were issued to over 44,000 taxpayers in December.
“In total, $42.2 million was paid to taxpayers, $21.5 in Personal Income Tax refunds and $20.7 in Reverse Tax Credits. The vast majority of those payments were deposited directly to taxpayers’ accounts at their selected financial institutions, while eight per cent of those payments were issued as cheques. This is significant headway in the thrust to transition from issuing payments via cheques to direct deposits.”
She also indicated that a number of deposits have been returned to the Authority from local financial institutions as a result of account information errors, amounting to just over two per cent of the total refunds and attributable to situations where incorrect details were entered.
“Some of the files sent back to us were because some taxpayers had selected the wrong credit union from the list; entered information for bank accounts that had been closed; entered card numbers instead of account numbers; included branch and transit codes with the account numbers; incorrect addresses; names spelt differently from what is on record at the financial institutions; messages typed in the account number field – these kinds of errors have resulted in further delays of payments as they now have to be reprocessed and reissued,” explained Williams-Gayle.
She urged taxpayers to take some time to review their TAMIS information and ensure that the details are up-to-date and accurate so the Authority can reissue those deposits.
“This will assist in ensuring that the refund process, from filing to payments received, is as efficient as possible. For those persons who did not receive their refund or tax credit payments as anticipated in December, please update your bank details in TAMIS by February 28, 2024 so we can reissue the deposits to the financial institutions. We are imploring taxpayers, particularly as the next tax filing season approaches, to take special care and check that their personal and baking details are current and accurate,” Williams-Gayle stressed.
The Senior Manager reported that additional refunds and tax credit payments are being processed for those persons who filed their returns after December 22, 2023, and after the Authority’s announcement that refunds were being paid for the 2022 income year. Those persons number 914 to date.
She highlighted that as the Authority continued on its journey to expand digital service delivery, there was also a marked reduction in the number of refund cheques issued which has significantly reduced processing timelines and reminded taxpayers to keep their personal banking and TAMIS details secure.
(PR)
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