A five-year-old attempt by the tax authorities to make it easier for Jamaicans to pay some taxes using electronic facilities has failed to engage taxpayers, revenue collectors have all but accepted.

The problem: too few taxpayers have access to credit cards, a necessity for online transactions.

However, low usage of the e-payment system, on which the Government is believed to have shelled out millions of dollars, backed by empirical data showing that Jamaicans are uncomfortable paying taxes online, has not deterred the Tax Administration Department (TAD) from adding to the system new features for e-payment of six payroll-deductible taxes.

'I want my receipt'

The department's director of communication, Merris Haughton, was not able to give a dollar figure on the investment, but said the cost to operate the system was the equivalent of about 2.4 cents per dollar of e-transaction spend. Users are not charged a fee.

Director-general of Tax Admin-istration, Viralee Latibeaudiere, says tax collectors have accepted that the majority of Jamaicans prefer to pay their taxes in person rather than doing so by e-transactions.

According to Latibeaudiere, a recent survey conducted by the department returned a 100 per cent finding that Jamaicans preferred to do walk-in business rather than going online to do business.

The survey sample size was not disclosed.

online services

"It is the culture," she said.

"You know what they told me? 'I want my receipt from the cashier'," she recounted, referring to the types of responses from persons who join long lines to pay their taxes.

Since 2004, the Tax Administration Department has been offering online services for property tax, general consumption tax (GCT) payments and in recent times, traffic tickets. But Haughton told a Gleaner Editor's Forum on Wednesday that usage of the electronic system was very low.

According to data from the department, usage for the 2008 to 2009 financial year ended March 31 this year was just 0.65 per cent of collection, meaning that just $1.2 million worth of transactions were done online. The ratio was marginally up from the 0.42 per cent for the previous fiscal year (2007-08).

The data showed that most online payments for the year related to property taxes, followed by GCT.

Haughton is, however, hoping for higher usage when the administration adds the facility for paying even more taxes to the current e-transaction platform of the revenue department.

"As of November 1, 2009, persons will be able to have the option of paying their payroll deductions online," she said.

"That is in respect of PAYE, income tax, NIS, education and HEART."

Guided by the current findings, the department plans to run a pilot project from November 1 to 14, after which it expects to fully roll out the service to the public by the end of the month.

The tax authority spokesperson said in order to be able to utilise the added e-transaction facility for payroll taxes, persons will have to do a one-time registration with the department.

She, however, reiterated it was a cultural issue and said that limited use of credit cards, required to do tax e-transactions, could be among the factors for the current situation.

"The older persons, they prefer to walk in, as well as a number of persons who do not have credit cards."

Haughton said that the department had not set a target for usage of e-transactions but she said a projection would be made when the new online services were added.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com