On Monday, Barbados’ Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn publicly confirmed a miscalculation in residential land tax bills that has impacted 25,807 residential properties assessed at values above $450,000, following a recent adjustment to the country’s property tax-free threshold. The mistake stemmed from a failure to update progressive tax bands after policymakers raised the tax-exempt threshold for residential real estate from $300,000 to $400,000 earlier this year, leaving affected property owners facing incorrectly inflated tax charges.
Speaking at a press conference hosted at the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) headquarters on Roebuck Street, Straughn laid out the corrected progressive tax structure that will apply to all residential land tax calculations moving forward. To eliminate any confusion, he clarified that the updated bands are structured as follows: 0% tax on the improved property value up to $400,000, 0.1% on any value portion falling between $400,001 and $550,000, 0.7% on the portion between $550,001 and $950,000, and a 1% rate for any value above $950,000.
Straughn emphasized that the error only impacts properties valued above $450,000; more than 62,000 residential properties assessed between $400,000 and $450,000 were calculated correctly under the new threshold, and their bills will not need to be reissued. Explaining the root cause of the administrative mistake, the minister noted that when the tax-free threshold was raised from $300,000 to $400,000, the remaining taxable bands were not shifted upward automatically as required under the new policy. Under the old threshold, the first taxable bracket ran from $300,001 to $450,000 at the 0.1% rate. After the threshold adjustment, this initial taxable bracket should have expanded to cover from $400,001 to $550,000 — a $150,000 range — but instead only covered $50,000, pushing the higher 0.7% rate into effect thousands of dollars earlier than it should have, resulting in overbilling.
The minister acknowledged that the error has caused unnecessary inconvenience for affected property owners, confirming that BRA teams have already identified the issue and are working at full speed to resolve it. To prevent the same administrative error from happening again in the future, Straughn announced that new programming protocols will be implemented to automatically adjust tax bands whenever the tax-free threshold is modified in upcoming policy adjustments. “Going forward, we will continue to review our property tax framework,” he said. “The reality is that the bands really should have been programmed automatically to shift with threshold changes from the start, so any future adjustments will include this automatic update to make tax calculations as seamless as possible for property owners.”
In addition to correcting the billing error, the government has adjusted payment deadlines to give affected homeowners extra time to settle their corrected obligations. Land tax is typically due by March 31 of each year, but corrected bills for impacted properties will carry an issue date of August 31, with extended discount deadlines aligned to 2026. The revised timeline offers a 10% discount for in-person payments completed by September 30, 2026, a 5% discount for in-person payments made by October 30, 2026, and a 10% discount for all online payments and bank transfers submitted by December 1, 2026.
Importantly, the correction applies exclusively to residential properties; all non-residential land tax calculations remain unaffected by the error. For homeowners who have already paid their incorrectly inflated tax bills, BRA will open refund requests starting September 1. Eligible property owners can choose to receive a cash refund for their net overpayment, request that the overpaid amount be credited to their 2027 land tax obligation, or apply the extra funds to cover any existing outstanding tax arrears.
As of the announcement, Straughn confirmed that BRA has already received $35.9 million in payments from affected taxpayers, but he noted that this total is not the total amount eligible for refund. The final overpayment sum will depend on how many taxpayers opt for refunds versus credits toward future tax bills. Corrected paper bills are currently in production, and the Barbados Post Office is scheduled to begin distributing them to affected homeowners before the end of August.
Trevor Forde, BRA’s Director of Tax Audit and Compliance, encouraged all residential property owners to register for the BRA online portal to access their updated tax information faster. Homeowners can use their existing bill number and map reference number from a previous land tax statement to log into the portal and view their corrected bill immediately, without waiting for the paper copy to arrive by post. Forde also reminded taxpayers that online payments qualify for the maximum 10% discount, making digital payment both faster and more cost-effective for property owners.