Dear Editor,

Please allow me to voice my concern regarding the granting of Tax Registration Numbers (TRN) to citizens’ associations.

Businesses, such as banks, or even utilities like Jamaica Public Service, for example, require a TRN. In our application to the tax office for a TRN we submitted the relevant forms with the names and personal information of the executives of our citizens’ association along with our constitution/by-laws and a supporting letter from Social Development Commission.

We were told that the policy is that in order for our citizens’ association to get a TRN we must first make a company registration or register with the Department of Co-operatives and Friendly Societies.

A call to the companies office revealed that it requires us to compete an application accompanied by fees of $3,000 — money we don’t have. Our next option was to register with the Department of Co-operatives and Friendly Societies. They too require a registration fee, but also mandate that the applicant (our members) come into their office for training.

Now, why do groups such as ours have to first register with them before we can get a TRN?

We are a community group, not a company. All we want to do is to be able to deposit our funds into a financial institution.

Presently we cannot get electricity to our community centre in the name of our citizens’ association without a TRN. We have a situation in which someone wants to donate a titled parcel of land to our association and this transfer cannot be done without a TRN.

The tax department should be facilitating groups such as ours. Why is there no desk at the tax office to examine documents of citizens’ associations and similar groups to grant them a TRN? Or for us to make an annual declaration of our activities to the tax department?

The present one-size-fits-all policy imposed by Tax Administration Jamaica makes no sense.

Citizens’ associations, youth clubs and similar groups do not meet the standard of a company and should not be required to be registered with the aforementioned group. I hope that the powers that be look into making the process much easier, exempting groups such as ours from this poorly thought-out policy.

Authnel S Reid

authnelreid@aol.com