T&T can't complete valuation of homes in 2010

There is no way that the government of Trinidad and Tobago will complete its valuation of properties during 2010. That's the word from Mervyn Thompson, senior valuations surveyor, Ministry of Finance.

"You are dealing with human beings you are dealing with people who are not going to let you into their properties and you will have to guess what their annual rental value is. We know we are not going to get everyone by the end of March,” he said.

Thompson made the statements while addressing a seminar on the tax system sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce. He said many property owners are unwilling to co-operate with investigators.

He said while his department has "very detailed descriptions of a lot of houses" there are no accurate records for many others. He said there is a problem in some affluent areas where owners have refused to allow anyone inspect their homes and have said they are willing to pay the penalty for that.,

"Several of our investigators in several of our distinguished areas in and around Port-of-Spain were told quite frankly, ‘write a cheque for the $500 penalty. We not co-operating.’ But we do get around that,” Thompson said.

The Ministry of Finance expects to send property owners their first new tax bill by March 31, 2010 and will allow a grace period of up to September 15 for payment.

However, property owners can also appeal, which could cause further delays.

Thompson said this date may be pushed back. “When you receive a bill by the end of March, you are going to be required to pay. If you have not received the bill, it is either we don’t have you on record, the record is incomplete or the result we received was unreliable and we rejected it, pending further investigation.

“For 2010, we recognise that there are going to be delays for billing because of a certain level of uncertainty of the tax. I expect that some measure will be given and the date for payment will probably be moved to December.

"That is what I expect. If you don’t get a bill, you cannot be penalised," Thompson said.