NHT Contribution Refunds Delayed
An unexplained glitch has left National Housing Trust (NHT) contributors in Jamaica unable to make refund applications to this hour in the New Year, 2025. Usually, refunds can be applied for as soon as the New Year begins.
Delays, the Trust indicates were either to employer actions or applicant
misinformation, principally. Now however, the site which is the only avenue to
apply for refunds, remain unavailable.
Refundable contributions have been increasing year by year. In 2023 the total
refundable was J$149.069 billion and for each year prior, ranged from $136.808
billion in 2022 down to $91.251 billion in 2017.
The NHT Contribution is currently set at two per cent of gross salary for
employees and is paid over by employers who also contribute to the Trust three
per cent of each employee’s gross salary, making a total of five per cent due
for each pay period.
One contributor said on August 19, 2024, that it was only after many months of “
backing and forthing” that he finally got his refund.
The businessman said, “Apparently there seems to have been some major
"system glitch" with the refunds system and as a result they have
failed to provide refunds for hundreds (more likely thousands) of people who
have applied since January.
He added, “They have no apparent fix in sight, have not said anything publicly
but try to treat it as a case-by-case basis, pretending as if the affected
cohort is small.”
The Trust in comment las year replied “the National Housing Trust, NHT did not
experience any glitch that delayed the refund of contributions in
2024. The NHT is also not aware of any undue delays in the disbursement of
contributions due for refund, beyond what may be classified as some general set
of factors that impact the speed at which applications are processed.”
These the NHT said include, “Employers’ Annual Return for the particular year
being unreconciled due to a number of factors
such as inaccurate/insufficient payment of contributions, non-submission or
incomplete Annual Return and employee’s data being missing from annual return
(e.g., incomplete or inaccurate NIS & TRN information).”
The Trust also pointed to data
errors by customers which include incorrect NIS numbers submitted on the
application or the incorrect banking
information provided, to include incorrect bank account number and type of
account (savings vs chequing account).
Others include instances where the name on an application does not correspond
with the name in the NHT database or the name for the bank
account submitted. There were instances where customers applied for the
incorrect year or for years already refunded, which also contributed to delays
in the processing of applications for refund.
For pensioners challenges included outstanding documents in the case of section
22 (total refund of contributions) including retirement letters, proof of age
and deceased claim documents such as consent forms
The NHT said that it successfully refunded approximately 167,000 applications
for contributions refund for the period January to July 2024. It was noted,
“The refunded amount was almost $8 billion dollars. This is approximately
14,000 applications more when compared to the same period for 2023.
Contributions actually refunded fall significantly below the total refundable,
perhaps because the refunds of mortgage holders are absorbed as NHT payments,
employers contributions are nonrefundable and perhaps also because of the level
of applications.
In 2023 total contributions refunded were $8.256 billion in and in 2022 $6.704
billion
in 2021 refunds were $6.457 billion, in 2020 $6.486 billion, in 2019 $ 6.175
billion , in 2018 $5.514 billion and in 2017 $ 5.268 billion.
In 2024 the Trust promised to refund contributions up to the year 2016.
Contributors are entitled to the refund in the 8th year after the contribution
was made.
Those who contributed to the NHT in 2016 would have been entitled as of January
1, 2024, and were invited to apply.
In fiscal 2022-2023 the NHT made an accumulated profit of $164.427 billion
compared to $158.656 billion in the year prior.
Total expenditure on housing was $45.948 billion in 2023 down from $46.514
billion in 2022 and $48.069 billion in 2021.
Return on assets reported last year (2023) was 5.6 per cent, down from 6.4 per
cent in fiscal 2022.
At year end March 2023, total assets held by the Trust were valued at $348.170
billion, an improvement over $328.317 billion reported at fiscal yearend 2022.
Contributors who become mortgagors will have the amount for refund applied to
their mortgage principal. The remainder of those who claim are paid cash.
Caribbean Money Daily
Caribbeanmoney.blogspot.com
Follow us for breaking news
Email austanny@yahoo.com
.JPG)
Comments
Post a Comment