Car rental owners have been urged by Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn to submit their Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income tax returns to the Barbados Revenue Authority by November 15.
His demand for filing obligations comes in tandem with a new levy on car rentals, but he acknowledged that the true financial impact of the charge is not expected to become clear until several months have passed.
Straughn’s call comes two weeks after the Car Rental Levy took effect on October 15.
The success and effectiveness of the levy will only be determined after a few months, Straughn told Barbados TODAY.
“The PAYE is filed every month with the BRA. So on the 15th, which is when the PAYE is due, they will file on the 15th for October.
“The Car Rental Levy that they collected, there’s a form online for that. So when you log into your account, it’ll be there for you to file just like your PAYE or anything else. But you wouldn’t know until the information is submitted on November 15 for what happened in October.”
He explained that the levy had been structured to reduce the administrative burden by aligning with existing filing schedules.
“That’s why we’ve engineered it so that, one, all those persons have to file their PAYE anyhow. And so as they’re filing the PAYE, they will just file the Car Rental Levy at the same time, so it reduces the administrative burden,” he said.
“At this stage we wouldn’t know. When that happens after a few, I guess, yes, then you will know, you will see where the revenue’s coming in relation to that.”
The levy applies to all vehicle rentals in Barbados — including those by residents and non-resident visitors.
It charges $5 per day for up to seven days, with a cap of $35 per rental. The purpose of the levy is to replace the previous Visitor Driving Permit for non-resident renters, and to ensure contributions to public infrastructure and conservation efforts.
According to the BRA, up to 50 per cent of the levy revenue will be directed to the Barbados Ocean and Coastal Authority and the Barbados Nature Conservancy Trust for coastal and environmental work.
(LG)
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