 The Tax Administration Procedures Act, or TAPA, is a draft piece of legislation that seeks to revise, consolidate and harmonize the rules relating to the administration of the tax laws of St. Lucia, and to ensure the efficient collection of taxes and other fees in the nature of taxes. Comptroller at the Allen Revenue Department, Marcia Vite, explained that the TAPA is currently being used by other international and regional jurisdictions. She said Antigua, for example, has been using the TAPA for quite some time. The common parts of those legislations, like the Income Tax Act, the VAT Act, we've sought to take these and put them in a piece of legislation for ease for the taxpayer. So you will find that the collection sections of these pieces of legislation are very similar, so we put it in a TAPA. You will find that administrative parts of the legislation are similar. We put it in the TAPA. So the TAPA is basically for the taxpayer, for ease of reference, and for the business person. IRD's senior legal officer, Catherine Spooner, welcomed the media coverage of the piece of legislation, which she noted was circulated to stakeholders, such as the Chamber of Commerce, the St. Lucia Bar Association and the Accountants Association, for comments. These comments will form part of the second draft of the TAPA. So we will not be finalizing the bill until we've done the second level engagement, and thereafter we'll be putting it on our website for a wider circulation. Spooner emphasized that the new draft bill is framed to provide an important balance between the rights of a taxpayer and the obligations of the IRD. There are a number of provisions that were not otherwise clear in the other pieces of legislation I'm having to do with the rights of taxpayers. It also, I think, is very important to know that it identifies timelines by which the IRD and or the controller should act. Failing that, the taxpayer rights kicks in. So no longer will a taxpayer have to sit back and say, I have not heard from the IRD. If we are not meeting the timeline, the taxpayer now initiates the right to act against the IRD. So I think this bill is important and it underscores the rights of a taxpayer. The drafting of the Tax Administration Procedures Act commenced in 2020 with the assistance of an international organization. The IRD controller highlighted the arduous task of putting legislation together, and after numerous internal reviews, the first draft was circulated last year in 2023. But there is actually nothing new. The individual pieces of legislation remain, it does not replace them. So the Income Tax Act will still be the Income Tax Act and the VAT Act of course and all the others, the Insurance Premium Tax Act, etc. They would remain and they will be utilized because it's only the sections that are similar that will be placed in the top for ease of reference. The controller has given the assurance that the draft Tax Administration Procedures Act will soon be placed on the IRD's website and public comment will be welcomed via a specific email address. For the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, Glenn Simon reporting.