Trinidad and Tobago: Govt plans to surge VAT and other taxes, says Opposition Leader

The opposition leader of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar, has disclosed that she has a cabinet note from the Ministry of Finance which proves her claims of Government’s proposal to raise Value Added Tax and other taxes which will put a burden on the citizens.

Initially she made this claim during her contribution to the Mid Year Budget Review on last Friday. However, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley called her claims rubbish and said that the document did not come from the government.

During the United National Congress meeting on Monday in Barrackpore, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad held up what she said was the Cabinet Note with a date of May 21, 2024.

She said that the government is planning to increase the overdraft facility, and they will max out that overdraft if they have not already done so. Appendix Four in this Cabinet Note said that this is where they plan to get the money.

She further pointed out a proposed revenue-generating measure that would see major adjustments to the tax structure.

While warning the citizens, she noted that and this is where it will hit the citizens in their pockets and everywhere else. She added that the government hopes to get $75 million more and noted, “What they’ll do? Exempt income—they are going to reduce what you can exempt when you are doing your taxes.”

Kamla Bissessar then went on to list the other proposals from the document which mentioned a surge in the Value Added Tax.

As she read the document, she outlined that the VAT rate amendment in Appendix 7, for every 1 percent increase in VAT, $506 million in VAT revenue is anticipated to be earned. It was also mentioned that an increase in the VAT rate to 15 percent can result in an additional revenue of $1.4 billion earned every year once properly administered.

On the other hand, Finance Minister Colm Imbert has refuted these claims of the Opposition Leader and said that the claims she is making is actually a calculation showing the effect on revenue of increasing or decreasing taxes.