BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC) has outlined its expectation of a tax-free 2014 Budget, which is expected to be presented before the Parliament today (Dec. 10).
While speaking with this publication, the organisation’s Executive Director, Calvin Cable, said the Chamber does not expect any new taxes to be added to the current tax regime, especially since the Federation is nearing a general election.
“With regards to our expectation to the Budget, we think that because of IMF concerns over the past two years, taxation is at a peak. It is also a season where within the short to medium term we expect that there would be an election. A tradition always holds that once you are entering an election period, a tax free budget is the order of the day.”
Cable said in keeping with a request the CIC made at the 2013 National Consultation on the Economy held only a couple of months ago, the CIC expects that the VAT charge on certain food items would be revisited and lowered.
He said the plight of retirees – many of whom have reduced spending power – should be taken into consideration by the government.
“The Chamber has always been cognisant of the economy and the situation with the economy. And this year at the Consultation on the Economy, we asked that the Minister of Finance look at the cost of living index…see what they can do to reduce the VAT for the poorest of the poor on things like milk, vegetables etc....the nutritious material which we need in our diet.
“We also asked him to consider the case of the retirees who have reduced salaries at retirement age and who are most likely be afflicted with the normal conditions of the aged which is diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, glaucoma and those types. The medication for those types of conditions, we have asked the government to seriously consider removing VAT because that puts a strain on the reduced economy of the retirees.”
The CIC’s Executive Director praised the government for the improvement of its tax collection systems but opined that more work needs to be done in that regard.
“What we would like to see is that the tax collection mechanism be further improved. There has been much improvement in it and the collections are a lot better, but there are still some persons who should be taxable who are escaping the tax net. There are persons and companies who should be brought into the loop rather than taxing the same people more…”
Should the Budget be passed today, it would be the second to be tabled, debated and legislated since the Opposition filed a Motion of No Confidence (MoNC) in the government.
Many assert that today’s Parliamentary sitting would be more of a “presentation” rather than a “debate”, as the Members of the Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition are expected to be absent in continuance of their boycott in protest against the non-tabling of the MoNC.
