WILLEMSTAD - The Ministry of Finance has instructed the Tax Authority to issue as many income tax assessments and refunds as possible before the end of the year. This is a crucial step to ensure that both taxpayers and the Tax Authority can fulfill their obligations. 

Income tax is a form of assessment tax. Taxpayers must first file a return. Based on this return, the Tax Authority calculates the amount of tax due or any refunds and records it in an assessment. 

Over the past 18 months, the Tax Authority has been working diligently to clean up records and reduce backlogs, resulting in a significant decrease in workloads for various types of taxes. However, there are still numerous income tax returns awaiting assessments. 

At the moment, there are more than 26,000 assessments pending for the years 2019 to the present. 

In a letter to the head of the Inspection, dated October 24, the Ministry of Finance stated its desire to have as many income tax returns as possible processed before the end of 2023. The Ministry has requested the head to develop a detailed approach and plan to clear the backlog and to provide periodic updates on progress. 

It is important that both positive and negative assessments are processed as soon as possible. This ensures that taxpayers can fulfill their obligation to pay taxes, while the Tax Authority meets taxpayers' rights to refunds. This initiative aims to prevent the reoccurrence of significant delays in assessment processing.