Following the live press conference held by President Wavel Ramkalawan on Thursday, 14 December 2023, it was announced that businesses affected by the explosion on 7 December 2023, will be provided with a grace period to lodge and pay their taxes to the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC).
The grace period facility will allow impacted businesses to apply for a maximum of 3 months extension to file and pay their taxes. This will affect taxes due on 21 December, 2023 up to 21 February 2024 respectively. For example, for revenue earned during the month of November 2023, businesses would normally lodge their returns and remit their taxes on or before the 21 December, 2023. Hence now with the deferred payment option being provided, businesses would lodge their returns and remit all their taxes at once on or before the 21 March, 2024.
To be granted the relief, businesses must complete the ‘7th December Deferred Payment of Monthly Tax Application Form’ available on www.src.gov.sc and at all SRC offices.
Please note that SRC will waive all penalties and interest incurred by businesses during the deferred payment period.
Amidst the calamity, SRC also understands that business records such as ledgers, sales receipts, bank statements and others were impacted. SRC is thus encouraging businesses to also use the grace period provided to collate their records and relevant data as may be prescribed in English, French or Creole.
As customary, businesses must still complete their annual lodgment of returns and payment for business or presumptive tax for the year 2023 on or before the 31 March, 2024. For businesses who have still not managed to earn any revenue during the three months period provided, please ensure to file and lodge a nil return to the SRC within the above mentioned timeframe.
For businesses who are still experiencing difficulty in resuming operations after the three months relief has been provided , in line with the applicable law if the taxpayer wishes to suspend its business operations and tax obligations beyond the time provided, a letter of request for suspension of tax obligations will need to be submitted to the Commissioner General within 14 days with the intention and the reason to suspend the business tax obligations. The taxpayer must ensure to also enclosed all supporting documents with the letter when requesting for suspension of their tax obligations to substantiate the request.
Likewise to resume and re-activate their tax obligations after the suspension period, the taxpayer must within 14 days prior to resuming operations notify the Commissioner General of their intention.
In case where a taxpayers wishes to permanently de-register their business, the Commissioner General should be notified in writing about their intention to de-register their business with SRC within 28 days from the date of cessation of their business.