(Barbados Nation) Many of Barbados’ highly regarded professionals, including lawyers and doctors, have been accused of grossly under-reporting their income and failing to file tax returns.
And the man who targeted them over the past two years for not filing their taxes said he was not happy with the level of enforcement by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) when it came to this category of workers.
Frank Forde, the just retired Acting Commissioner of Inland Revenue, said professionals were not paying their fair share of taxes, while employed people and pensioners were carrying most of the personal income tax burden.
What disturbed the former taxman even more was that a sizeable number of the high-profile professionals had not filed tax returns for as many as 20 years.
Forde, however, said the IRD was limited in the period for which it could hold them accountable, contending that the department was instructed by Government’s legal advisors to only prosecute for a five-year period.
