Gaming Industry to benefit from improved TAJ service

Gaming industry stakeholders are expected to benefit significantly from improved service delivery under phase three of the Tax Administration Jamaica's (TAJ) Revenue Administration Information System (RAiS).

The phase, which was rolled out in early September, entails revenue administration streamlining for several categories of taxes applied within the industry.

These include the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Duty and Transfer Tax; Environmental Protection Levy; Trade and Business Licence; and Withholding Tax.

The revisions and benefits of the regime were outlined by Business Lead for the RAiS Project, Jean James, during a presentation at the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission Gaming Industry Summit, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

Among the changes she outlined is the requirement of gaming entities to have registered accounts created by the TAJ.

This requires that they have a Taxpayer Registration Number to facilitate a more structured filing of returns for central and branch activities.

The categories of accounts to be created will cover racing, sports betting, gaming and lottery.

James said accounts will be created whether entities are conducting business.

"So (where they) have been issued with a licence and are in business, then the taxpayer account will become active when it is created. If the business is not operational yet, then we will establish that account in a pending state," James explained.

Another change, she informed, is the streamlining of the revenue-filing format, which is now directly administered by the TAJ.

"So, no longer will you be asked to go to two or three entities to file returns. All returns will be delivered to us because we will be sharing the platform ... and the returns data with the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission," she said.