Glenda Anderson, Staff ReporterMILLIONS OF dollars collected by Government agencies from their employees have not been paid to the Inland Revenue Department.
In a scathing probe by the Auditor-General's Department (AGD), it was revealed that statutory deductions from several Government agencies are outstanding. While Government officials have moved to widen the tax net to include both the formal and informal sectors, some of its own agencies have consistently not been handing over money collected from employees. Up to March 2002 three major health corporations combined owed $1,002.4 million - representing money it collected for National Housing Trust (NHT) contributions, the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and Education tax.
Where deductions are not handed over to the NHT or are completed incorrectly, a person's chances of accessing a mortgage loan or contributions refunds will be greatly reduced. In addition, non-compliance attracts a penalty of $30,000 or three times the amount of unpaid contributions, whichever is greater.
The NHT was unable to submit a list of companies which were delinquent in handing over payments but were firm that there would be no special arrangements in place for employees whose contributions were not submitted.
"The situation is standard and the truth is that if no contributions were received then the individual really has no claim to benefits," one source explained.
The AGD investigators found that for one corporation alone, the South East Regional Health Authority, (SERHA) the missing funds amounted to $686.2 million in salary deductions over a two-year period (October 2000 to March 2002). SERHA, a statutory body of the Ministry of Health, is the largest of four Regional Health Authorities formed as a part of the health sector reform in 1997.
It is responsible for the delivery of health care services in the parishes of St. Catherine, St. Thomas, Kingston and St. Andrew through a network of 10 hospitals and 89 health centres. This represents 47 per cent of the population of Jamaica. The agency was also chastised for other financial irregularities including the discovery that five of its bank accounts were now in 'serious arrears'.
At the Western Regional Health Authority, deductions amounting to approximately $149 million made from employees salaries were also not paid to the relevant agencies.
Since the audit however, steps were taken by the Authority to have statutory deductions for NHT and NIS paid up to June 2002 while arrangements were also made with the Inland Revenue Department to remit $3 million monthly.
The figure for the North East Regional Health Authority, the smallest of the four health regions, was a total of $167.2 million up to March 2002. The North East Health Region covers the parishes of St. Ann, St. Mary and Portland, 13.7 per cent of the general population.
The agency was also chided last year when deductions totalling $91.3 million had not been remitted for the period October 2000 to June 2001.
Other companies in the 'red' were the University Hospital of the West Indies with an outstanding sum of $213 million since 2001 and repeat offender, the Jamaica Fire Brigade with $243.1 million at March 2002.
When The Sunday Gleaner checked with the U.H.W.I for a response to the findings, the CEO was out of office and unable to be reached, while several calls made to the Jamaica Fire Brigade were not returned.
Neither SERHA's director, Catherine Gregory, nor NERHA's Owen Belvett could be reached for comment on any measures in place to address the illegal practice.
Local government agencies were also implicated as units like the Portland, St. Mary, St. Elizabeth and Manchester parish councils withheld funds ranging from $16.4 million to $8.5 million.
But discrepancies in the remittance of these deductions could mean that more than 5,000 employees from a variety of medical and non-medical groups, could lose entitlements to certain benefits.
