Businesses urged to file taxes, play health surcharges

Many people are registering businesses but do not file income tax returns and pay health surcharges which later comes back to haunt them.

This is according to Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago member and accountant Sonia Scarce who today hosted a half day seminar for business owners at the Young Women’s Christian Association head office, St Clair.

During Scarce presentation titled “A guide to business owners” some participants, including sole traders, said they were not aware that they had to file income tax returns or pay the health surcharge.

“They just register a business and go about their business merrily,” he said. “They weren’t aware of the penalty and the consequences of not filing on time.”

Scarce told Newsday that she was not surprised by the response from the participants as the idea to host the seminar was due to many of her clients telling her that they did not know they had “to file this or pay for that” after they would have encountered a problem.

Scarce, who does financial planning and accounting for clients, said, “ They never knew because of a lack of knowledge.”

When someone registers a business, she said, no one tell them what they have to do.

“When you go across to BIR to get a BIR number as a sole trader or as a company, nobody sits to tell you what your filing means,” he said.

Based on the response, Scarce now plan to host a similar seminar in San Fernando.