PHILIPSBURG--Social and Health Insurance SZV has registered a twenty per cent increase in the collection of premiums for the sickness insurance ZV from 2015 to August 2017 in comparison to 2014, while wage tax increased by 13.8 per cent for the same period.
Health Minister Emil Lee credits the increase in collection to the work of the Audit Team St. Maarten (ATS).
SZV established the ATS to conduct social premium audits and to ensure that companies are in compliance with SZV. ATS’ activities include ensuring companies are registered; cleaning up the data base of inactive companies; ensuring company information is correct; ensuring that companies file and pay their associated premium and providing information about returns.
ATS began its work in 2015. In giving another comparison, Lee told Members of Parliament (MPs) during the continuation of a parliamentary meeting on Friday, that between the 12 months post Hurricane Irma and the 12 months prior to Irma, the wage tax dropped by 23.2 per cent while ZV/OV dropped by 20.5 per cent. Lee said both wage tax and ZV/OV premiums are based on wages earned, therefore the difference outlined in the trends “we believe is most likely due to the difference in collection efforts therefore the efforts of the ATS.
“The trends outlined in both comparisons show that the ZV/OV receipts are structurally better which we believe can be attributed to the efforts of the ATS.”
Lee said ATS was contacted by the Ministry of Finance to draft a plan of approach to increase tax compliance.
