MORE THAN a million persons have been given Taxpayer Registration Numbers (TRN), according to acting director of taxpayer registration, Noella Llewellyn Heron.
"We have 1,017,729 persons registered with confirmed numbers at the end of January. We had 45,424 persons registered with provisional numbers at the time," she said.
According to a release from the Jamaica Information Service, she said the TRN formed the basis for the introduction of an integrated computerised tax administration system, which would come on stream shortly.
Introduced in April 1996, the TRN system is part of the tax Administration Reform Project that has the ultimate goal of widening the tax net.
"Previously, we had different numbers within the different departments that the taxpayers would use," said Mrs. Llewellyn Heron, "now all the revenue departments use one number and that is the TRN."
The revenue departments stopped issuing and accepting provisional TRNs in December and the new computerised system will only be able to handle confirmed numbers.
Mrs. Llewellyn Heron said many persons have been to tax offices to have their numbers confirmed but companies have been less responsive. The tax offices that can assign confirmed numbers are those in Sav-la-mar, Westmoreland; Montego Bay, St. James; St. Ann's Bay, St. Ann; Mandeville, Manchester; Spanish Town, St. Catherine and Kingston.
"As the other offices are put online that number will increase," she said.
