Trinidad and Tobago has avoided being blacklisted by the international financial community after its Parliament passed a controversial Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2018 with amendments without opposition support.
Nineteen government members voted for the legislation, while 14 Opposition members voted against. There were no abstentions. The Bill was passed after the Government deleted all clauses requiring Opposition support in a bid to prevent the country from being blacklisted by international financial institutions.
Attorney general Faris Al Rawi said: “So basically we’ve given Trinidad and Tobago a fighting chance. We’ve done the best we could. The Opposition failed to explain to us why they would not support, other than saying go back to a Joint Select Committee.”
Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar told Loop T&T that, contrary to claims by the Government, the deadline for passing the legislation had not passed.
"They kept shifting the deadlines, saying today was the deadline for passage, scaring people and we don’t believe them,” she said. “You know he actually admitted in the meeting today wasn’t the deadline for the passage.”
Persad-Bissessar added that the Opposition refused to be bullied into supporting the legislation.
The aim of the Bill was to amend the Income Tax Act to ensure Trinidad and Tobago’s 2015 Mutual Evaluation Report met international requirements under the 40 Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, and that it conformed to the Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the US and the Global Forum.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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Trinidad and Tobago has avoided being blacklisted by the international financial community after its Parliament passed a controversial Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2018 with amendments without opposition support.
Nineteen government members voted for the legislation, while 14 Opposition members voted against. There were no abstentions. The Bill was passed after the Government deleted all clauses requiring Opposition support in a bid to prevent the country from being blacklisted by international financial institutions.
Attorney general Faris Al Rawi said: “So basically we’ve given Trinidad and Tobago a fighting chance. We’ve done the best we could. The Opposition failed to explain to us why they would not support, other than saying go back to a Joint Select Committee.”
Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar told Loop T&T that, contrary to claims by the Government, the deadline for passing the legislation had not passed.
"They kept shifting the deadlines, saying today was the deadline for passage, scaring people and we don’t believe them,” she said. “You know he actually admitted in the meeting today wasn’t the deadline for the passage.”
Persad-Bissessar added that the Opposition refused to be bullied into supporting the legislation.
The aim of the Bill was to amend the Income Tax Act to ensure Trinidad and Tobago’s 2015 Mutual Evaluation Report met international requirements under the 40 Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, and that it conformed to the Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the US and the Global Forum.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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