Parliament’s debate of the legislation for the proposed new property tax system ’could’ potentially affect the measure’s final outcome, says Minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne.
Browne also says Government anticipates it will earn $160-$170 million a year from the measure which, he says, in the context of the $44 billion 2009/2010 Budget, is not that much revenue.
He made the comments in an interview with the Sunday Express yesterday after addressing the People’s National Movement (PNM) Field Officers’ Committee on the property tax measure at the ruling party’s Balisier House headquarters in Port of Spain.
Browne had told the Senate during debate on the 2009/2010 Budget on September 25, that the legislation for the proposed new property tax system would have to be brought to Parliament and debated.
Asked if the Parliament’s debate could potentially affect the final outcome, Browne said yesterday:
’It could. At the end of the day, in Parliament you’re gonna debate a measure which requires essentially Parliament to agree. Now if Parliament doesn’t agree and doesn’t see the wisdom in the move, we update the evaluations.’
The bill only requires a simple majority vote for passage in both the House of Representatives and the Senate which means the Government does not need the support of either the Opposition or any Independent Senators.
Browne said, however, this does not mean that the Government was not engaging in dialogue with all stakeholders in and outside of the Parliament on the matter. and gave his address to the PNM Field Officers’ Committee yesterday as an example.
’This is what we are doing and that’s one of the reasons why we have said we will bring new legislation. That’s a dialogue programme,’ Browne said.
He told those who attended the PNM Field Officers’ Committee members meeting, including one of the party’s deputy political leaders, Joan Yuille-Williams, that the new property tax system would not be a major revenue earner and this is why it is not contained as a measure in the 2009/2010 Budget.
