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TAX OFFICIALS have placed sports personalities on the list of persons being hunted for revenues.
Ainsley Powell, commissioner at the Taxpayer Audit and Assessment Department, told a Gleaner Editors' Forum yesterday that a number of professional sportsmen and women are now being sought.
"In Jamaica, sports is in the main recreational and amateur. We are now seeing a shift where the professional element is coming into our sphere," Powell said.
Large number
The tax department prepared 40,600 letters for persons who did not file returns last year and so far this year 33,548 letters have been prepared. The groups of persons being sought include doctors, sports personalities, exporters and contractors.
Yesterday, Powell stayed far from saying how many of the letters were prepared for sports persons. He also did not give an assessment of how much unpaid or underpaid taxes by sport perso-nalities is short-changing the country's coffers.
Under Jamaican tax laws, persons in receipt of income which is in excess of the income tax threshold, which now stands at $320,736 yearly, are required to pay 25 per cent tax on the additional income.
Powell told The Gleaner that the number of sports personalities being sought is "going to be a small group initially". He, however, noted that with the rise in professional leagues and the growing number of persons into professional sporting disciplines, the taxable income from sports have increased compared with former years.
"Cricket is one of the areas where you see the professional activities taking place, and athletics," Powell noted.
The tax boss told The Gleaner that "one and two (sports personalities) have been coming through and persons were compliant in the past. What we are trying to do now is to ensure that we have a high level of compliance as possible," Powell said.
But what of taxation treaties which protect persons who work abroad from double taxation?
Complex situation
Powell has said that calculating and assessing taxable income of sports personalities is a process that has to be guided by such treaties.
He said that while some treaties allow for taxes to be taken from these professionals at source, most of the treaties to which Jamaica is a signatory speak to the residence principle. This means that the athlete is duty bound to pay taxes where they reside.
However, this principle does not hold for sportspersons who work in the region. According to Powell, CARICOM tax treaties mandates that persons pay tax on their income in the country in which they work. Yesterday, Meris Haughton, director of communication in the taxpayer and audit department, said that she was about to have a meeting with three sports personalities concerning their income-tax returns.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...s/sports1.html
Ainsley Powell, commissioner at the Taxpayer Audit and Assessment Department, told a Gleaner Editors' Forum yesterday that a number of professional sportsmen and women are now being sought.
"In Jamaica, sports is in the main recreational and amateur. We are now seeing a shift where the professional element is coming into our sphere," Powell said.
Large number
The tax department prepared 40,600 letters for persons who did not file returns last year and so far this year 33,548 letters have been prepared. The groups of persons being sought include doctors, sports personalities, exporters and contractors.
Yesterday, Powell stayed far from saying how many of the letters were prepared for sports persons. He also did not give an assessment of how much unpaid or underpaid taxes by sport perso-nalities is short-changing the country's coffers.
Under Jamaican tax laws, persons in receipt of income which is in excess of the income tax threshold, which now stands at $320,736 yearly, are required to pay 25 per cent tax on the additional income.
Powell told The Gleaner that the number of sports personalities being sought is "going to be a small group initially". He, however, noted that with the rise in professional leagues and the growing number of persons into professional sporting disciplines, the taxable income from sports have increased compared with former years.
"Cricket is one of the areas where you see the professional activities taking place, and athletics," Powell noted.
The tax boss told The Gleaner that "one and two (sports personalities) have been coming through and persons were compliant in the past. What we are trying to do now is to ensure that we have a high level of compliance as possible," Powell said.
But what of taxation treaties which protect persons who work abroad from double taxation?
Complex situation
Powell has said that calculating and assessing taxable income of sports personalities is a process that has to be guided by such treaties.
He said that while some treaties allow for taxes to be taken from these professionals at source, most of the treaties to which Jamaica is a signatory speak to the residence principle. This means that the athlete is duty bound to pay taxes where they reside.
However, this principle does not hold for sportspersons who work in the region. According to Powell, CARICOM tax treaties mandates that persons pay tax on their income in the country in which they work. Yesterday, Meris Haughton, director of communication in the taxpayer and audit department, said that she was about to have a meeting with three sports personalities concerning their income-tax returns.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...s/sports1.html
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