Citizenship

Clearances for citizenship purposes requires that you be registered, up-to-date with the filing of your tax returns for the past 6 years. You also must not be liable to the Department for any Income tax. If you are in arrears for said taxes, you need to settle them before you can request a clearance letter. You must provide your national passport as your form of identification for a citizenship clearance letter.

Time

Please allow 48 hours for processing of your clearance letter.

Work Permit

Clearances for work permit purposes requires that you be registered and up-to-date with the filing of your tax returns for the past 6 years. You also must not be liable to the Department for any Income taxes. If you are in arrears for said taxes, you need to settle them before you can request a clearance letter.

Your employer must also provide a Letter of Guarantee on the company’s letterhead, where available, and the letter should be signed by the owner / manager of the company. A Letter of Guarantee ensures that the employer will cover the employee’s income tax liability if the employee is not able to settle it him- or her-self.

Time

Please allow 7 working days for processing of your clearance letter.

Personal Income Tax Clearances for the mortgage, purchase and sale of property require that you be registered with the IRD and up-to-date with the filing of your tax returns for the past 6 years. You also must not be liable to the Department for any income tax. If you are in arrears for said tax, you need to settle them before you can request a clearance letter. 

Time

Please allow 48 hours for processing of your clearance letter.

Is A Clearance Letter Possible If You Owe?

If you are in significant arrears with the Department which cannot be immediately settled before obtaining the clearance letter, satisfactory arrangements can be made at the discretion of the Comptroller.

Request an appointment with a Collections Officer for more details, you may e-mail us at customerservice@ird.gov.lc .

Company

All companies requesting clearance letters must submit that request in the form of a letter, printed on the company’s official letterhead and signed by the company’s manager or official representative. Your company must be registered and up-to-date with the filing of your tax returns for the past 6 years. Tax-exempt entities must file nil tax returns with accompanying financial documents. You also must not be liable to the Department for any Income taxes. If you are in arrears for said taxes, you need to settle them before you can request a clearance letter.

Time

Please allow at least 7 working days for the processing of your clearance letter.

Satisfactory Clearances for Companies

If you are in significant arrears with the Department which cannot be immediately settled before obtaining the clearance letter, satisfactory arrangements can be made at the discretion of the Comptroller.
Request an appointment with a Collections Officer for more details.

When Applying for A Clearance...

All persons applying for clearance letters are required to present suitable and updated form(s) of identification and an updated copy of the land register(s). The land register must possess the stamp from the Land Registry Department not exceeding 6 months.

Persons must indicate the purpose for which the clearance letter is being requested. If there are any outstanding property tax payments, the individual is required to settle all liabilities before making a request for the Clearance letter. If an individual is unable to clear their existing liability, they will be referred to a collections officer where satisfactory arrangements can be made to facilitate payments of the existing liability.

An application being requested on behalf of another individual must be accompanied by an authorization letter signed by that individual, and the individual’s I.D. card.

Please note that the processing time for all clearance letters is 48 hours.

Exemption Letters

These are not clearances but are required by companies from hired workers who wish to take responsibility for paying their own income taxes in the form of withholding or contract tax. These workers can obtain those exemption letters in the same fashion as an income tax clearance.

Workers must be registered and up-to-date with the filing of tax returns for the past 6 years. They also must not be liable to the Department for any Income taxes. If they are in arrears for said taxes, they must settle them before the exemption letter can be requested.

Time

Please allow 48 hours for processing of exemption letter.