Deputy Premier Ewart Brown's medical practice Bermuda Healthcare Services is number 19 on the Auditor General's “name and shame” list of employers in arrears on their payroll tax.

With a payment plan and changes to the management and pay structure in place, however, in two and a half months Healthcare Services is expected to be “100 percent up to date”.

The practice was listed as being $82,907 in payroll tax arrears as of June 30, 2004. The gap has since been narrowed. “We have a payment plan in place and we are on schedule with it,” Dr. Brown told The Royal Gazette on Friday.

Bermuda Healthcare Services practice manager Kelley McKinney provided further details on Friday and last night.

At a meeting last year with the Tax Commissioner, Healthcare Services agreed to a payment plan of $10,000 per month.

“We have adhered to that,” Ms McKinney said.

The current balance shows that Healthcare Services owes just $25,000 more, meaning that in roughly two and a half months “we will be 100 percent up to date,” she said.

In the meantime, the practice has established a payroll deposit plan and automatic deductions to ensure that it keeps on top of payroll tax. Taxes are now done on time and paid in full, Ms McKinney said.

The problem, she explained, was that previously Bermuda Healthcare Services had problems with its management structure - namely, no qualified managers. Since Ms McKinney's arrival on the scene, however, the practice is on a “very positive track”.