NOBODY enjoys paying taxes. But taxation in one form or another is one of the pillars of civilisation. Taxation has historically been imposed by ruling monarchs or powers partly as tribute but largely to satisfy the needs and uses of those who rule, be it war, personal monuments, services, infrastructure or other purposes.

In earlier times taxation may have taken the form of produce or slaves. Today, however, it is quite different in that it is in essence the hard currency of a country and it is for a variety of purposes, some often never met as the taxes go into a general pool from which the government of the day dispenses funds as it sees necessary to deliver the goods and services it has committed to provide.

Our system is a typical one, inherited from our colonial past and modified, added to or rationalised over the years, especially during the post-Independence period. Not long ago the Manning administration made the quantum leap in tax reform and simplified income taxes. Prior to that the NAR took a similar leap in introducing the value added tax (VAT). But many of our taxes were born of those off-years when the economy was in a slump or there was some other defining factor. Taxes such as the Unemployment Levy, the Health Surcharge or Business Levy are typical examples.

Politicians often make comparisons between ourselves and other much larger countries such as the United Kingdom, United States and Canada where property taxes are imposed by what in essence is a local authority to provide services within its jurisdiction, separately from other forms of taxation such as state, provincial, federal or national taxes as the case may be.

In reality, however, it is the proverbial comparison of apples and oranges. With our size and population T&T might qualify as a mid-sized city in any of these countries. Most taxation is collected by the Board of Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise, soon to become the Revenue Authority, and disbursement of funds will rest with the Ministry of Finance as directed by the Prime Minister.

The curious thing about our Land and Building taxes is that they have been allowed to remain static over many decades to the point where they become simply nuisance taxes, especially for homeowners. Citizens should not be deceived into accepting the new rates as an equitable reform. They are nothing but a new level of direct taxation of homeowners using the same old ’Land and Building’’ name and in direct response to the huge deficits brought on by the world financial crisis that was not supposed to affect us and was merely a blip. What next? Improved local services or death duties?