KOROR (Palau Horizon) — At the end of its tax amnesty program, the Social Security Administration’s collection was way below its target of over $20,000.
“I am very disappointed. Not many people showed up and availed of the program,” SSA Administrator Greg Ngirmang said.
According to Ngirmang, SSA will no longer offer an amnesty program again, but will instead work on other measures to recover uncollected taxes.
SSA is currently checking on the labor and immigration division to determine the extent of the problem, Ngirmang said. This will help SSA identify how many employees are not paying taxes, he added.
“We’re not sure whether we underestimated the number of people or the people think they can get away with it,” he said.
SSA collected around $9,000 during the first months of the program. Ngirmang said less than 100 people availed of the fourth tax amnesty program, but he was still hoping that 300 delinquent members would settle their accounts. SSA has been receiving information that some employees refuse to pay taxes because there are other workers who are not paying, Ngirmang said.
SSA will inform the workers about the benefits they will receive once they start paying their contributions, he added. However, he said they were not sure if they could resort to legal action to compel the members to settle their unpaid accounts.
