Imbert: No lottery tax yet

Finance Minister Colm Imbert said yesterday the introduction of a ten per cent tax on cash winnings from the National Lotteries Control Board (NCLB) had been put on hold.

Imbert made the announcement when he presented the Finance Bill 2017 in the House of Representatives. He reminded MPs that the measure involved the introduction of a ten per cent tax on lottery winnings over $1,000.

Imbert said he was recently advised it would take some time for the NLCB and its vendors to get accustomed to the new regime of withholding taxes on lottery winnings. While the majority of the measures in the 2017/2018 budget will take effect from January 1, 2018, Imbert said the tax would not, and there was a commencement clause in the bill which said the measure would come into operation, “when fixed by the President by proclamation.”

Referring to similar taxes in Jamaica and in Florida, Imbert said the regime proposed by Government was “far softer.”

On the proposed environmental tax of $20 on imported tyres, Imbert said the tax would not apply to tyres for agricultural vehicles like tractors. He disclosed there are discussions under way for a public-private partnership to deal with the recycling and disposal of tyres.

Imbert also said his ministry had held consultations with officials from the Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Management Unit about the Exchequer Act Account in the Central Bank, which had been very close to the overdraft limit since September 2015. He said consideration would be given to a proposal for an increase in Treasury bills to finance Central Government operations, which could result in a savings of $240 million to the Government.