The country’s largest business grouping, the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, says Government must waste no time in fully engaging the business community and the wider national community on the implementation of the Property Tax.
In a statement yesterday, the T&T Chamber said with the current global decline in the price of oil and gas, it is “fully cognisant of the need for Government to find alternative sources of revenue to help close the gap created by decreased income.” However, it said while it has no problem with the re-implementation of the tax, it is of the view that Government needs to be “clear and transparent in the process.”
It recalled that when Finance Minister Colm Imbert first put the population on notice that the Property Tax would be re-introduced in his budget presentation last year, “we were adamant then, as we are now, that any measures put in place should not result in the de-incentivisation of the private sector.”
The chamber said: “Considering the urgent thrust to increase non-energy exports and to promote the manufacturing sector, a six per cent tax on industrial properties, which includes the installed cost of plant, machinery and equipment, seems counter-intuitive to the desired outcome of incentivising investment. It might also be regarded as unnecessarily burdensome.”
The chamber is also concerned that the “average home owner is currently in a quandary regarding the precise calculation of the Annual Rental Value (ARV) for their respective properties, as Government has given no clear indication regarding how this is to be done.”
It added that when one considers the fact that a significant percentage of the population comprises pensioners living off fixed incomes, “one can only hope that proper measures will be implemented for those most vulnerable in our society.”
Ironically, it said “those most vulnerable appear to now include business owners and investors straddled with a severe seven-year low regarding occupancy rates in residential and commercial properties.”
The chamber also urged Government to be “transparent in the use of the funds collected through the tax, to avoid a situation similar to that of health surcharge, where there is a strong perception that the population does not receive good value for money.”
It noted that since the announcement last week, much has been ventilated about the property tax.
“Quite justifiably, the comments are largely calls for greater clarity and the elimination of much of the ambiguity currently surrounding the process.”
In light of this, the chamber is suggesting the Ministry of Finance take the lead on cogent discussions, informational sessions and public education campaigns to ensure we are all on the same page regarding the new taxation mechanism, adding it was ready to assist.
