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Finance Minister Audley Shaw.

There will be no extension of the tax amnesty, Finance Minister Audley Shaw said last week.

The six-month waiver on interest and penalties on unpaid income, consumption and property taxes will end October 31.

"... Thereafter, an aggressive tax-compliance programme will be pursued by the Inland Revenue Department," said a finance ministry release.

But Shaw has adjusted the terms of the waiver in the final three months, increasing the level of debt forgiveness by as much as 50 per cent.

Now the waivers will range from 90 per cent, which remains in effect to August 31; then 80 per cent on payments made in September, and 70 per cent in October.

Previously, the level of forgiveness granted was 50 per cent to 20 per cent over the same period.

The adjustment follows reports from the Tax Administration Services Department that its intake during the amnesty ran into billions of dollars in the first three months of the amnesty when the 100 per cent waiver was in effect; and the addition of some 3,000 companies/self-employed to the tax roll.

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