One Year Tax Break for MSMEs: Government Launches Amnesty Program

Tonight, Belize’s small businesses have a new reason to step into the formal economy. But with that step comes the often-uncomfortable conversation about taxes. Back in June, the Belize Tax Service named and shamed more than a dozen businesses for unpaid taxes. One of those named was businessman Andrew Munnings. According to the Tax Service, he owed over one hundred and eighty-three thousand dollars in unpaid taxes. But Munnings strongly disagreed. After spending a night behind bars, he fired back with legal action, claiming the department had gotten its math all wrong. Fast forward to today, the government is coming with a different tone and launching a Tax Amnesty Program that gives qualifying MSMEs a full year free of business tax, plus waivers on penalties and interest. It’s part of a nationwide effort to formalize micro, small, and medium businesses and fuel economic growth. Here’s what Director General of the Belize Tax Service, Michelle Longsworth, had to say:

 

Michelle Longsworth, Director General, Belize Tax Service

“Let’s say from the under, just under 2000 that were registered during this period, let’s say some businesses in that category may have defaulted, as the director said. What this provides is that, once approved for the Amnesty Program, remember, they have to be approved under the Amnesty Program first. What we will do is we will review their account when we get that certificate, if there are any outstanding tax arrears. And the tax arrears include penalty and interest. Immediately there will be a waiver applied for the penalty and interest, so they will only have the core business tax that is outstanding. If the core business tax is outstanding, they can make an arrangement to pay off that, because then they would have two things. They would get the waiver; they would have an entire year that they don’t have to pay business tax. So this is a way to assist them in that in the event that they have core business tax outstanding, they can make a payment arrangement to pay that off over the 12 months that they will not be paying any business tax.  So it’s a really good approach; it’s a really good thing for businesses that may be in that situation because it’ll help them to become compliant. They have an entire year that they won’t have to worry about paying tax. They can focus on clearing off those taxes that they may owe.”