The Tribune - June 9, 2020
K. Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister, in kick-starting the 2020-2021 budget debate in the House of Assembly, said “cracking down on tax cheats and ensuring the government obtains every cent due to it is one area where the Public Treasury’s income might improve amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s fall-out”.
Praising the Revenue Compliance Unit, which was first conceived under the former Christie administration, for achieving “exceptional results”, Mr. Turnquest added: “The Unit has had a total fiscal impact of $39.2m in the first ten months of the 2019-20 fiscal year.
"It's been very successful," Mr Turnquest said of the Unit's achievements during the first six months of the 2017 calendar year. "We've agreed to extend it for another year, and at that time we'll conduct an assessment whether it will be of added value or has reached a plateau.“
He added that the increased focus the Unit has brought to revenue enforcement, coupled with the use of "different collection tools" and risk assessments conducted on taxpayers, had helped to drive its success.
The Honorable K. Peter Turnquest, MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance - March 2018.
It is a pleasure to provide this endorsement for Rick and his team. We have worked closely over the past three years and he has been an invaluable resource in the building of the Revenue Compliance & Enforcement Unit. More importantly he has had a significant impact in the daily operations and capacity building efforts as well as my personal growth as a senior leader in the revenue administration.
Hiram G. Cox
Senior Tax Manager
Revenue Compliance & Enforcement Unit
April 2020