Tewarie: Property tax stress for people

But this plea was rejected by Government which said the tax has existed since 6,000 years ago in ancient Iraq, and was once partially introduced to TT by former People’s Partnership finance minister, Larry Howai.

Tewarie, during debate in the Lower House, said he doubted the Ministry of Finance has the resources to assess the many forms and supporting documents required to assess the tax rate for each property.

Noting Friday’s downgrade of Trinidad and Tobago by Standard and Poors and a recent 9.5 percent drop in TT’s GDP, he said the country’s financial state now “is not nice”.

He asked if the law empowers the Finance Minister to request intimate documents about person’s property such as photographs, saying this could expose home-owners to risk amid the country’s high crime-rate. “It is stressful to the citizen,” Tewarie added.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert scoffed that St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar whom he called “the ax the tax man” had no problems in paying $17,000 in property tax to the United States tax authorities for a condo he owns in Florida but is unwilling to pay one-tenth that sum in property tax in TT.

Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal alleged that four robberies had been perpetrated by persons pretending to be conducting property tax assessments of persons homes. “When the UNC is returned to office we will repeal and replace the property tax,” Moonilal vowed. Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said the property tax had become law in January 2010 and that Howai had in October 2010 announced the start of its partial implementation with the promise it would be further rolled out, a point then reiterated by Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Stuart Young.

Young went on to hit the Opposition as “unpatriotic and treasonous”, saying he deplored the calls to the public to break the law by refusing to pay the tax.

The debate ended on a light note as Couva South MP Rudy Indarsingh tried to rush his presentation in two minutes before the 7 pm close-off of debate on the motion.

Government members verbally heckled to try to throw him off his train of thought - with some success - while Opposition MPs loudly pounded their desks in support of him and to try to keep him on track.