Tax Department: “Taxes Are Not Optional”

The Belize Tax Service is taking a hard stance on delinquent taxpayers. The department published a list of defaulting businesses with outstanding tax arrears totalling millions of dollars.

Director General Michelle Longsworth says the move is supported by law and comes only after all attempts at collection have failed. “The legal basis is fully grounded in the law, Section 64A of the Tax Administration and Procedure Act (TAPA). This empowers the Director General to publish a notice… This notice really serves as a final call to those who have remained delinquent in paying their taxes,” Longsworth told News 5.

According to Longsworth, the named businesses were given ample time and opportunities to dispute, negotiate, or arrange their tax payments.

“We’ve done everything trying to collect from them. “It’s important to know that none of these defaulters listed ‘just received a bill out of nowhere with no warning,'” she said. “We tried working with them, and we still continue to try working with but they refuse to engage in meaningful discourse. So, each one of them was afforded the rights all taxpayers receive: audit reviews, payment arrangements, dispute if they wanted to dispute any of the assessments they were engaged in.”

Longsworth added, “The publication of this specifically is where it’s a reminder to the public that taxes are not optional, and they don’t just go away; taxes must be paid. It’s unfair to pressure those who pay their taxes and leave those who don’t pay their taxes.”

The public list includes companies from across the country and nearly every sector and names well-known businesses along with their total tax owed.