by Linda Straker
- In December 2022, EC$777 million was owed in outstanding taxes and penalties
- Tax amnesty implemented January 2023 will expire 31 December 2023
- In May 2023, IMF advised to discontinue tax amnesty programme after expiration
$23.2 million of the outstanding tax owed to the Government has been collected through the tax amnesty implemented as of January 2023. In December 2022, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell who was then the finance minister, said EC$777 million was owed in outstanding taxes and penalties.
Presenting the 2024 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure during a sitting of the Lower House of Parliament on Monday, 4 December 2023, current Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall said, “The amnesty has been broadly successful, resulting in additional revenue collections of $23.2 million as at the end of November 2023. Some 6,319 taxpayers benefitted from the amnesty.” The amnesty expires on 31 December 2023.
“I take this opportunity to strongly encourage all delinquent taxpayers to come forward and settle your arrears before the amnesty expires at the end of December of this year,” he said, and announced that a new tax system will take effect in 2024.
“Government will roll out the first phase of a new tax system in January of 2024. The Grenada Tax as it will be called, will allow for online filing and payment of the Value Added Tax or VAT, the Corporate Income Tax, and the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Tax,” Cornwall said.
He explained that the second phase of the new tax system which will see the rollout of other tax types such as the Property Tax, Stamp Duty, and Business Licences, will take place in the last quarter of 2024. “We are excited about the new tax system as it aims to improve the tax experience by leveraging technology and innovation,” he said.
Shortly after becoming Finance Minister in April 2023, Cornwall warned that he will have no mercy on taxpayers who fail to settle their outstanding tax debts during the tax amnesty period. “I want to send this warning, as minister of finance, if I ever had the opportunity after this amnesty is over and there are people out there who have not taken advantage of this thing, I will have no mercy to enforce the law.”
In May 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised Government to not continue with the tax amnesty programme after its expiration date. “We emphasise several times to the Government that this one should be the last one… it should be very deeply in people’s minds and those who are paying tax to the Government that this should be the last one,” said Huidan Lin, IMF Mission Chief for Grenada in the Article IV consultation of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement.
