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Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Businesses can apply for waiver of business license and VAT late payment penalties

Dr. Hubert Minnis.

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis has ordered that penalties and interest for deferred payment of business license tax and value-added tax (VAT) can be waived for the duration of the state of public emergency with an extension of 30 days thereafter, with some caveats.

The new amendments to the Emergency Powers Order (COVID-19) (NO. 2) state that applications to take advantage of the waivers have to be made by June 30, 2020.

The amendments state that an application for an extension of time to pay VAT may include the waiver of a fine and interest accrued on all amounts of tax due and payable that remain outstanding at the date of the application.

Such provisions are also being provided for licensee holders that have made arrangements under the Business License Act to pay outstanding business license tax, so long as they meet the specified criteria.

The criteria includes that the amount for which an extension of time is requested or special arrangements are made must not exceed 50 percent of the taxes due and payable or an aggregate amount of $300,000.

Where an extension of time or arrangement to pay is approved under this order, the applicant may pay the amounts approved between January and December 2021, the order continued.

Regarding excess business license taxes, the order mandated that where a business receives an approval, any amounts payable for business license tax by that business that are not covered under the grant of approval shall become due and payable within 15 calendar days after the grant of approval.

Penalties for making a false statement on any of these matters or failing to comply with conditions of the order amount to a fine of $10,000 or up to 18 months in prison.

Companies can already apply for a payment extension or arrangement for VAT filings or business license tax payments.

The fee for late payment for business license tax is normally 10 percent of the tax liability.

The post Businesses can apply for waiver of business license and VAT late payment penalties appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.



source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/22/businesses-can-apply-for-waiver-of-business-license-and-vat-late-payment-penalties/

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