“Efficient property tax collection system coming soon,” says Deputy Commissioner

Jermaine Jarvis, deputy commissioner at the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), says that a synchronised computerised system will make for the efficient collection of property taxes.
“The ultimate goal is to ensure that at the end of the exercise there will be one single database in terms of lands in Antigua and Barbuda. A system would have been installed at the Inland Revenue Department that is compatible with the system at the Survey and Mappings office and also the Land Registry department. Now all three systems are being
synchronised,” Jarvis explained.
The deputy commissioner added that the synchronisation of these systems will help the IRD ensure that the property tax that is payable is indeed correct. The synchronised system will also allow for the production of a list of all the outstanding taxes for this year and previous years as well.
Anomalies within the three systems have resulted in inefficient collection of taxes over the years, and this exercise will put an end to all irregularities.
Jarvis led a three-member team to make a presentation to cabinet on Wednesday. The other two members of the team included the chief valuation officer of the IRD and a computer engineer representing the Tremble Tech Company.
According to the notes released from the latest Cabinet meeting, although the quantum of property tax which goes un-collected can only be estimated, the top 100 properties owe the IRD more than EC$19,000,000 (nineteen million dollars) in outstanding taxes.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)