Posted on

Hidden Jamaican Money

There is hidden Jamaican money throughout the Jamaican financial system!  I kid you not.  NIS has disablility assistance and relief with doctor signed forms, there are widow’s benefits like funeral costs, they may also hold the only key to your getting pension money from places you worked and forgot or are closed down.   Let’s say the company you worked at closed and you didn’t get your NIS and NHT forms…the closed company is supposed to have handed your data over to NIS ….then again, if they didn’t ‘yu salt’….but if they did you can use it towards getting govt pension (however small) and towards getting NHT refunds.   As you leave/retire from each company make sure you get your NHT & NIS data for pension purposes, i.e., your NHT letters, keep all your pay slips and P24s back ’till you were 2 yrs old’ (just kidding but the 7 yr rule DOES NOT HOLD HERE!) …as the tax man and HR lady told me….it can take ‘ a long time’ and you don’t have a long time to wait for income when you retire…  Did you know NIS is in surplus because people aren’t claiming?!  And…they’re using to money to buy up overseas property rather than increase ‘the smalls’ we get…..sad…but every ‘mickle mek a muckle’..when it comes to your pensions…

Find out if your business is exempt from GCT transactions.  Call the ‘tax specialists’ (official name) at the Ocean Blvd dept of the Tax Office….(bet you didn’t even know this section existed, these are the guys that know every last angle and loophole of Jamaican taxes!!!)

Posted on

Money in Dormant Accounts/Unclaimed Bank Balances – Jamaica

I have helped encourage the Government of Jamaica, Ministry of Finance, to make available, for the first time, on a continuous basis, the dormant account lists of the commercial banks.  After 15 years, under Jamaican law, these monies go to the Bank of Jamaica and you must have proof it is yours in order to claim it, meaning, not  just regular account information and particulars.

We have a way to go in making the information useful, however, because right now the listings are by account numbers and not alphabetical name so you will have to have an idea of which branch an account might be in.  The first 2 numbers of the account at National Commercial Bank designate the branch, eg., 35 means Knutsford Blvd Branch.

Here is the link for the latest National Commercial Bank listing on the Ministry’s site. Click the link following, and then scroll down the list of links on the right hand side of the page to Useful Information section
Unclaimed Bank Balances, NCB

it will come up as a very slow loading PDF once you click the link (towards the very bottom of the right-hand column).

Below is a file for Unclaimed balance at The Bank of Nova Scotia & Citibank.  These files are not yet uploaded to the Ministry of Finance’s site.  Citibank entry is the very last page in a tiny corner.

Bank of Nova Scotia & Citibank Unclaimed bank balances, March 2010

Let me know if you need further pointers, I’m trying to get info for the 3 other big commercial banks operating in Jamaica.

 

No one can charge you for your money, with the right credentials as proof of legacy or ownership it is yours for free but if you need help organising the paperwork and transactions that will help you get access to dormant money, we charge 6 percent of the sum in the account and a JA$ 3000 non refundable down payment.  If you need help let us know re decisions or actions concerning the banks, Mental Health Act, Administrator General or probate as your claim may go through one of these routes.