The Committee for Financial Supervision CFT and incoming Finance Minister Perry Geerlings agree that fiscal compliance must improve, and they are right. The problem is that the latter’s five predecessors have all been saying that.
Then-president of the Chamber of Commerce Glen Carty revealed some time ago that more than half the companies in the mandatory trade register did not even have a CRIB number to pay tax. It was later argued that this could include many inactive or closed businesses.
The files have since been updated and it would be nice to know the current situation also in the new post-Irma reality. Having everyone pay their lawful share is not only the right thing to do but helps create the kind of level playing field one needs in a basically open market economy characterised by free and fair competition.
However, there is also another side to this story. Many businesses and residents over the years have received clearly erroneous, usually way too high assessments or after-assessments and not just because of the botched so-called condo tax.
Their efforts to prove that lead too often to mere frustration, as tax authorities don’t seem very receptive or are perhaps reluctant to admit their mistakes. On top of that there appears to be a persistent disconnect with the Receiver’s Office in these cases, so that even when the Tax Inspectorate finally makes a correction the money might still be on the books as owed for long periods, which creates issues, for example when collecting for services provided to government.
It’s no doubt important to enforce the rules and ensure everyone pays what they are supposed to, but also to do a better job of not overtaxing people and promptly making amends should that happen. As the minister himself put it, St. Maarten requires a “well-established” Tax Department.
