10 Dec 2021
Meet the Inland Revenue Department
The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) was established in 2005 as a separate department within the Ministry of Finance. The IRD is responsible for collection of domestic tax revenues. Our priority is to constantly improve the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of tax administration in Anguilla. The IRD is committed towards collecting taxes with fairness, efficiency and integrity in a timely and cost-effective manner while providing courteous, quality service to the residents of Anguilla. Our role is to ensure compliance with government approved tax laws and regulations and support generation of revenues to be used in providing essential services in Anguilla.
The main taxes and licences currently administered by the IRD include Interim Stabilisation Levy (ISL), Accommodation Tax, Business Licences, Liquor Licences, Motor Vehicle Licences, Driver’s Licences, and Property Tax.
From 1st July 2022, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be implemented, and it will replace five existing taxes: Accommodation Tax, Communication Levy, Environmental Levy, Public Entertainment Tax and Interim Goods Tax. At the moment, IRD is preparing for the implementation of GST.
Structure of the Inland Revenue Department
Management
The Comptroller of the Inland Revenue has complete oversight of the Tax Administration which encompasses ensuring that taxes are properly accounted for in a manner consistent with the applicable laws, policies, and procedures. The Deputy Comptroller provides administrative support to the Comptroller along with the Assistant Comptrollers for Taxpayer Services, Revenue Operations, Audit, and Compliance and Collections. Collectively, these administrators - together with their teams - effect and monitor the daily operations of the Inland Revenue Department. Through this, IRD increases effectiveness and efficiency of the services provided. Below we provide an overview of each unit’s services.
Taxpayer Services Unit
- Educating and servicing taxpayers to foster voluntary compliance;
- Registering taxpayers and updating accounts;
- Issuing Driver’s Licences; and
- Processing tax returns and issuing assessment notices.
They are the team available to support taxpayers with any questions regarding the MyGovernment/IRD Portal.
Revenue Operations Unit
- Receiving and recording all types of payments;
- Ensuring all revenue collected is fully and accurately accounted for; and
- Processing refund claims.
Compliance and Collections Unit
- Processing Certificate of Good Standing applications;
- Detecting any unregistered taxpayer (e.g., using third party data);
- Ensuring IRD taxpayer register is kept accurate and reliable;
- Detecting taxpayers that have not filed returns on-time or made payments on-time and taking necessary follow-up actions to secure missing or late returns/payments;
- Monitoring payments for all tax types to ensure timely receipt; and
- Collecting all IRD arrears and taking all authorized enforcement actions to collect arrears.
Audit Unit
- Conducting audit reviews of taxpayers to ensure accurate reporting for all tax types.
Property Tax Unit
- Generating property tax demand notices; and
- Registering and updating property tax accounts.
System Administrators
- Maintaining and updating user accounts;
- Conducting training on the various functions of the Tax Administration system; and
- Enforcing data security.
All units are supported by the System Administrators, for reporting, updating and functional maintenance of the Tax Administration systems.
In preparation for GST implementation, the IRD will expand its service offering and will engage more directly with taxpayers and residents of Anguilla to support transitioning over to this next tax. For more information, feel free to contact the Inland Revenue Department at inlandrevenue@gov.ai. Please visit our website at ird.gov.ai and Facebook page @AnguillaIRD.