Who can practise and sign
ICATT's rules let its members use the designation Chartered Accountant or the letters C.A. after their names. ICATT says the CA designation is granted by ICATT alone in Trinidad and Tobago. These are rules that bind members. We found no published penalty for a non-member who uses the title, so check the register rather than relying on the title.
ICATT issues two certificates to members in practice: a Practising Certificate (non-audit work) and an Auditing Certificate. A member may not carry on public practice in Trinidad and Tobago without a Practising Certificate. A member who keeps practising after the certificate has expired and not been renewed faces disciplinary action.
For ICATT, public practice includes accepting an appointment as auditor, signing accounts, reports, certificates or tax returns that a third party is likely to rely on, and calling yourself or your firm "Chartered Accountants", "Accountant" or "Auditor".
To hold an Auditing Certificate, ICATT's Practising Regulations require at least 3 continuous years of membership of ICATT or an approved IFAC member body, and at least 3,000 audit hours over 3 to 4 years under an accredited Supervising Principal. The member must also be fit and proper and hold professional indemnity insurance.
Company audits are restricted by law. Under section 158 of the Companies Act (Chap. 81:01), a person can be appointed auditor of a company only if they are a practising member of a recognised supervisory body, and ICATT is named as one. The copy we read is the Attorney General's unofficial version, updated to 31 December 2016, so confirm the current text.
Bookkeeping is treated differently. ICATT's Practising Regulations list recording basic accounting data up to trial balance, bank reconciliations, payroll with PAYE and Health Surcharge deductions, and VAT record keeping as work that is not public practice. That is how ICATT defines what its own members need a certificate for. We found no law that licenses bookkeepers or tax preparers.
The bodies
- ICATT (icatt.org): incorporated under Act No. 33 of 1970. It sets the rules for chartered accountants and issues the practising and auditing certificates. Office: 2nd Floor, Professional Centre Building, 11-13 Fitzblackman Drive, Wrightson Road Extension, Port of Spain. Telephone 1-868-623-8000.
- Member Not in Practice: an ICATT member without a valid Practising or Auditing Certificate. They can use C.A. but may not carry on public practice.
- Member in Practice: an ICATT member who holds a valid Practising Certificate (non-audit) or Auditing Certificate from the Licensing Committee, which looks at qualifications, fit and proper status, professional indemnity insurance and continuity-of-practice arrangements.
- ICATT Registered Firm: a firm whose Members in Practice are in good standing and which has registered with ICATT. It may use the designation with the registration year, and registration renews every year by 2 January.
- Board of Inland Revenue (BIR): the tax authority. We found no BIR scheme that registers or licenses tax agents.
How to check an accountant
The register covers only firms that chose to register, and it shows the firm, not each person's certificate. A sole practitioner with a valid certificate may not be listed.
- For a firm, open the ICATT Register of Approved Firms (icatt.org, Members, Registered Firms). Search by keyword. The list shows organisation name, phone and type of firm.
- Read the firm type. MP means Member in Practice, with a valid Auditing or Practising Certificate. The page says Audit Firms may do both audit and practising services, and Practising Firms may do financial services other than audit.
- Check the date on the page's statement. It says the partners, principals and directors of listed firms hold valid certificates and are in good standing as of a stated date (16 July 2026 when we read it).
- For an individual, phone ICATT on 1-868-623-8000 or use the contact form on icatt.org. Ask whether the person is a member, which certificate they hold (audit or non-audit) and when it expires. We found no public "find a CA" page for individuals.
- Do not accept a copy of a certificate as proof. ICATT's regulations require a current and valid certificate, and certificates are renewed.
- Ask whether the accountant holds professional indemnity insurance, which ICATT requires of members in public practice.
What a small business needs an accountant for
- Audit: under section 164 of the Companies Act, shareholders may resolve not to appoint an auditor, but a public company cannot. The resolution lasts only until the next annual meeting and needs the consent of all shareholders, including non-voting ones. A private company can skip the audit year by year only if every shareholder agrees.
- Companies Registry annual return: under section 194, deliver the prescribed return to the Registrar within 30 days after each anniversary of incorporation, with the fee. An officer must certify it, and default is an offence for the company and the officers in default. This is separate from the tax return.
- Income tax return: the year of income is the calendar year and the return is due within four months of its end, 30 April (Income Tax Act, section 76). Everyone liable to pay tax files, as does every partnership, everyone carrying a loss forward and everyone with income from a section 5 source. The one relief is a resident individual whose only income is an office or employment, because PAYE has already collected the tax. Sole traders, partners and landlords file. Companies file whatever the profit.
- Rates to plan around: individual tax is 25% on chargeable income up to TT$1,000,000 and 30% above, with a resident personal allowance of TT$90,000. Self-employed people and companies also account for Business Levy at 0.6% of gross sales, exempt for the first three years. Green Fund Levy at 0.3% is paid by companies and partnerships, not sole traders. Where income other than employment income exceeds a quarter of total income, tax is paid in quarterly instalments at the end of March, June, September and December, with the balance due on 30 April.
- Tax numbers: the BIR file number is the tax identifier, issued free by the Board of Inland Revenue to every employee, self-employed person, sole trader, partnership and company. A partnership needs one for itself and one for each partner. The VAT registration number is separate and comes only if you register. An employer needs a PAYE account number, prefixed PYE, before hiring anyone.
- VAT: register once you pass TT$600,000 of commercial supplies in any twelve months (the Finance Act 2022 figure, in force since 1 January 2023). Some IRD forms and pages still print the old TT$500,000, but the statute and the IRD VAT pages say TT$600,000. The tax period is two months, and every registered person files and pays for each one, nil periods included. Return and payment are both due within 25 days of the period's end. The standard rate is 12.5%. Late payment costs 8% of the unpaid amount plus interest at 2% a month (section 54).
- PAYE and National Insurance: an employer withholds income tax and the Health Surcharge from pay and remits them by the 15th of the following month. National Insurance contributions go to NIBTT by the last day of the month, and a 25% penalty applies if they are unpaid by the fifteenth day after the due date (National Insurance Act, section 39B).
- Landlord Business Surcharge (announced in the 2026 Budget Statement): landlords register with the Board and pay a TT$2,500 registration fee. The surcharge is 2.5% of gross quarterly rental income up to TT$20,000 and 3.5% above, due 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December.
- Records: proper books and records are required, and failing to keep them is an offence under section 38(5) of the VAT Act, with a fine of TT$30,000 and two years' imprisonment. Records must be in English and in TT dollars, kept at the principal place of business for six years or three years from filing, whichever is later.
- Invoicing: Trinidad and Tobago has no e-invoicing mandate. A paper or PDF tax invoice meeting section 36 of the VAT Act is compliant. What is being digitised is e-Tax filing, not invoicing.
- Filing online: you need a ttconnect ID (ttconnect.gov.tt) enrolled for e-Tax, which takes a visit to a ttconnect Service Centre with two forms of identification and a document showing your BIR number. Do it before the deadline, not on it.
- Letting an accountant act for you in e-Tax: the IRD lets the Administrator or Account Manager of your e-Tax account add an Authorised Agent under Manage Access, using the agent's ttconnect ID and BIR number. Both sides must already be enrolled in e-Tax, and the agent accepts or declines the request. The agent's access cannot exceed yours.
- Access levels include View, Prepare Only, File Only, and Prepare and File. The IRD sets no professional qualification for an agent, so any person can be appointed. Consider starting with Prepare Only, and remove the access when the engagement ends.
Red flags in Trinidad and Tobago
- A "firm of Chartered Accountants" or an "Auditor" that is not on the ICATT Register of Approved Firms and cannot name the ICATT certificate it holds and when it expires.
- Someone offering to sign a company audit report who is not a practising member of ICATT. Section 158 of the Companies Act makes eligibility depend on that.
- An auditor who also works as an officer or employee of your company. The Companies Act (section 161) requires the auditor to be independent of the company and its directors and officers.
- No professional indemnity insurance. ICATT requires it of members in practice.
- A certificate or "registered" claim with no year. Certificates and firm registrations are renewed every year.
- Anyone asking for your ttconnect login instead of being added as an Authorised Agent in e-Tax.