The Gleaner NA Specialty Edition

THE WEEKLY GLEANER | OCTOBER 11 - OCTOBER 17, 2021 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | FEATURE 11 LOCALLY REQUIREMENTS FOR Individuals Individuals must submit a completed and signed Application for Taxpayer Registration (Individuals) – FORM 1 along with the following: 1. Passport OR Driver’s Licence OR 2. National ID/Voter’s ID, Work ID, School ID, professionally produced cer- tified, passport size photograph or any other photo- graphic ID MUST be used with Birth Certificate (and Marriage Certificate or Deed Poll if applicable) 3. Self-employed persons need to submit their NIS card and, if trade name is different from applicant’s name, the Business Name Registration Certificate is needed NB. Photographs must be certified by one of the following: • Justice of the Peace, • Minister of Religion/ Marriage Officer, • Judge/ Resident Magistrate, • Attorney-at-Law, • Member of Parliament, • Parish Councillor, • Medical Doctor, • School Principal, • Civil Servant (SEG3 and above) • Police Officer at the rank of Inspector or above. Photographs must also be certified within the past six months to be accept- able. Certification should include the following: “certified to be a true pho- tograph of ……………..,” name and title of Certifying Officer, Signature of Certifying Officer, date of certification, Official Stamp of certifying officer (not required for JPs). JPs should quote their assigned JP numbers. NB. Certified photographs must be accompanied by a Declaration from the Certifying Official. The address on applica- tionmustmatchtheaddressonDeclaration by Certifying Official. A blank declaration can be collected fromyour local Tax Office or be printed from Tax Administration Jamaica ’swebsitewww.jamaicatax.gov.jm . The completedapplicationcanbe submit- ted at any tax office islandwide. APPLYING FOR A TAXPAYER REGISTRATION NUMBER (TRN) OVERSEAS Requirements for Individuals Individuals must submit a completed and signed - Application for Taxpayer Registration (Individuals) – FORM 1- which can be accessed from www.jamaicatax.gov.jm with a valid form of identification (ID). Any of the following types of ID may be used: • Passport • Driver’s Licence The identification should include the applicant’s full name, date of birth, pho- tograph, signature and expiry date. This application should be signed by the applicant andmailed to the Taxpayer Registration Centre with a valid, copy of his/her Passport or Driver’s Licence no- tarised by a Notary Public or certified by a Jamaican Consular Officer at the near- est Jamaican High Commission/Embassy or Jamaican Consulate General. The sig- nature made by the applicant on the application for TRNmust be identical to the one on the supporting identification. When the application is received by the Taxpayer Registration Centre, a TRN will be assigned and an email will be sent to the client advising him/her of the TRN assigned. A letter will then be prepared in approximately two weeks and subse- quently mailed to the applicant. The completed application should be mailed to: Tax Administration Jamaica Taxpayer Registration Centre Shop 26-27 Ocean Boulevard Kingston Mall Kingston • Telephone numbers: +876 924-9280, +876 924-9281 or +876 922-3913 1-888-TAX-HELP (local), 1-888-GO- JATAX (USA) • Email: taxpayerregistrationcen- tre@taj.gov.jm APPLYING FOR A TAXPAYER REGISTRATION NUMBER (TRN) ONLINE Requirements for Individuals To apply for TRN online, visit the TAJ Website www.jamaicatax.gov.jm and log in to the TAJ Web Portal, select the “Apply for a TRN” hyperlink from the e-Services home page and follow the information noted on the default “Instructions” page. While the application may be submit- ted online, it is important to note that the application is not complete until all relevant documents have been submit- ted to one of Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ)’s offices (tax collectorates). The applicant has the option of send- ing a letter of authorisation with the application indicating the name of an individual in Jamaica that they would like to collect their TRN card, and the applicant should also indicate on the application form which location is re- quired for the third party to collect the TRN card. The third party is required to present identification to collect the card from the designated Tax Office within 3 weeks of receipt of application by the Taxpayer Registration Centre. Applying for a Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN) THE NATIONAL Housing Trust (NHT) was established in 1976 to provide low interest rates for home loans for persons who are between the ages of 18 and 65 years and are currently contributing to the Trust. Once they have been contributing to the Trust for at least two years and meet other conditions, they are eligible for a loan from the National Housing Trust, to build or buy a house in Jamaica, or to buy land for home construction. This includes Jamaicans residing overseas. HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU CONTRIBUTE TO BENEFIT? Employed Jamaicans living overseas should con- tribute 3% of their monthly wages, before tax. Self- employed individuals would contribute 3% of net earnings (less business-related expenses) and persons employed to Jamaican high commissions/embassies contribute 2%. THE BENEFITS - Once you have been contributing consistently and on time for 2 or more years, you will qualify for a home loan at low interest rates of between 1 and 6%. - If you do not already own a home in Jamaica, you are entitled to a non-home owners loan of up to J$4.5M* - If you already own a house in Jamaica, you are entitled to a home-owners loan of up to J$1.5M *Up to J$5.5M for a new development. HOW LONG DO YOU HAVE TO CONTRIBUTE BEFORE BENEFITTING? ∙ Persons who had not previously contributed to the NHT are required to contribute for 104 weeks (2 years) before they are entitled to a loan. ∙ Persons who had previously contributed and have the minimum 52 weeks (1 year) in contributions are required to contribute for only an additional 52 weeks. WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH YOUR NHT LOAN? Your loan can only be used for housing purposes and the property must be located in Jamaica. The loan may be used to: • buy land • buy a house • build a house, or • repair a house You can also use your loan to help with your chil- dren, relatives and friends to buy, build or repair residential property in Jamaica. If the sum you are able to borrow from the NHT is insufficient, you may apply jointly with another contributor to obtain more funds to buy a single property. You may also access more loan funds from select housing financial institutions and combine this with your NHT loan under the Joint Finance Mortgage programme. These institutions will process your loan application on behalf of the NHT and approve your NHT loan without your attending the NHT’s office. HOW TO REGISTER AS AN OVERSEAS CONTRIBUTOR Complete an application form and Declaration of Income form obtainable on the NHT website, www. nht.gov.jm . Transmit the form to the NHT at the address below, either by mail, bearer or email to the NHT @ wecare@nht.gov.jm . The form should be accompanied by notarised copies of the following documents: - Your National Insurance (NIS) and TRN cards - Employment/Job letter if you are employed - Jamaican Passport, Jamaican Birth Certificate, Certification of Registration or Naturalisation for Jamaica - evidence of your estimated weekly, monthly or yearly earnings, if you are self-employed - a valid form of identification – such as driver’s licence or passport - one passport size photograph - Proof of address Do not send original documents. All copied doc- uments should be signed by a Notary Public or a Jamaican Consular Officer. After your application is processed, you or your representative will be advised whether or not you have been approved as a voluntary contributor, the amount to be paid eachmonth as NHT contributions, the date for payment, and the methods of payment. WHEN TO MAKE YOUR PAYMENTS · The NHT will calculate the monthly amount you should pay from the date of your registration. • Payments are due by the 14th of the following month. You can make payments: • online at www.nht.gov.jm using a Visa or MasterCard • personal or manager’s cheque. The contributor should note that payment made by these means may take up to 30 days to clear • direct payments at NHT offices • setting up a standing order at a Jamaican bank IF I AM APPLYING FOR A LOAN, WILL I HAVE TO ATTEND THE LOAN INTERVIEW IN PERSON? You may either attend the loan interview in person or give power of attorney to someone to carry out those duties. Where the applicant is unable to attend the interview he/she is required to submit a medical report completed on forms provided by the NHT. National Housing Trust THE WE KLY GLEANER | OCTOBER 11 - N VEM 0,