No more online tax confusion, Imbert

He made this comment during a news conference at the Eric Williams Financial Complex in Port-of-Spain on Wednesday.

Imbert also said approximately $1 million in revenue has been collected via this tax during the first ten days of its introduction.

“In terms of who it should be applied to, who it should be collected from. I don’t think that is an issue,” he told reporters.

Imbert said while there was an initial confusion about the online tax, he has heard nothing further on that matter.

“I haven’t heard anything since then because we clarified that the online tax only applies to individuals.

“It does not apply to businesses that import items for sale and distribution. It applies only to air freight. It does not apply to gifts that come from abroad,” he stated.

Imbert added, “The goods have to be acquired via an online transaction, an electronic transaction and so on.” The minister said now that people understand the online tax, the only issue now is, “whether they like it or not.” Imbert observed, “I mean nobody likes taxes.

“Who likes taxes? The problem is now, whether there should be a tax at all.” He said he was not worried about this because “there will be some grey areas that will be dealt with from time to time, as we go along.” Imbert also said the ministry is giving active and serious consideration to a request from the Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) to look at the profit margin of gas stations in light of recent increases in the price of fuel.

The minister added that there has been no further issue regarding the issue of using credit or debit cards to pay for fuel at gas stations in the country.