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Lm3.3 million in tax refunds boosts Christmas spirit

By Kurt Sansone

The Christmas season may be slightly more comfortable for almost 16,000 taxpayers who have received refunds owed to them by the Inland Revenue Department over the past four weeks. A total of more than Lm3.3 million in income tax refunds have been paid out in December.

The cash in hand could provide a slight reprieve for retailers who are concerned that most people are window shopping rather then buying goods. Coupled with the government bonus that is paid out with the December salary, which is normally cashed before Christmas, the money might help to ease the cash flow problem for retailers.

A survey commissioned by the GRTU among retailers found that for the first pre-Christmas shopping week, between 13 and 18 December, 50.8 per cent reported ‘good’ sales while 49.2 per cent responded in the negative. However, the vast majority of retailers expected things to get better in the following weeks.

Asked by MaltaToday, the Commissioner for Inland Revenue Adrian Chetcuti said that since the end of November all through mid-December, the department paid out a total of Lm3,336,797 in refunds. He added that Lm2.5 million of the amount represents refunds of tax overpaid during the year 2000.

Mr Chetcuti said that during 2001 the Income Tax Department expects to have paid around Lm9.5 million in refunds to 37,400 taxpayers. This amount is the second highest amount to be refunded by the department in the last five years.

In 2000 the Inland Revenue Department paid Lm13.6 million making it the highest amount to be refunded in the last five years.

During 1999 taxpayers benefited from Lm3.2 million in refunds while in 1998 and 1997 Lm2.8 million were refunded.