Imbert slams Opposition on Tax Bill

“There is nothing new about any of this,”, Imbert said in a release yesterday, noting that it was the same agreement the current administration signed with the US Government on August 19. In addition, the Kamla Persad-Bissessar led-government, Imbert said, had also agreed in May 2013 that the competent authority under the legislation necessary to bring FATCA into force under Trinidad and Tobago law, would be the Ministry of Finance and the Board of Inland Revenue.

“This is exactly the same as is being proposed now,” he said in response to Persad-Bissessar’s claim that the opposition United National Congress will not support the Tax Information Exchange Bill in its present form because the Finance Minister will have access to private financial information. “There is no difference in the legislation currently before the Parliament and it is not correct to say that the Minister of Finance will have access to private information under the Bill,” he said.

According to Imbert, “Only the Board of Inland Revenue, as obtains now, will have access to private information for tax reporting purposes.” On Persad-Bissessar’s claim that Government rejected her call to meet with the Opposition to work every day and night for a week in a joint select committee (JSC) to complete a review of the bill, Imbert said, “Government would have had no difficulty with this proposal if time had permitted.” However, the procedural requirements for the establishment of a JSC, involving the naming of members by the Senate and the House of Representatives before the JSC could meet.

“That process would take at least one week,” he said, “and the first time a Joint Select Committee could meet to do its work, therefore, would be Saturday September 17, 2016. Further, after it completed its work, the JSC would have to report back to the Parliament before the debate on the Bill could resume.”