Colm: Disaster without Tax Bill

FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert said the country’s financial system faces foreign censure and chaos if Parliament fails to pass a bill to share tax details with foreign states, but Chaguanas East MP Fazal Karim said the bill threatens individuals’ rights and so must be amended.

The House of Representatives yesterday debated Imbert’s motion for the House to adopt the report of the Joint Select Committee on the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2018.

On the bill’s facilitation of an exchange of information between governments to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion by corporations and individuals under the Global Forum, Imbert warned of consequences for inaction.

“De-risking is potentially dangerous for TT’s financial sector if TT doesn’t put its house in order.”

He said de-risking is the refusal of correspondent banks overseas to deal with TT banks, such as if Wells Fargo Bank in the USA refused to facilitate a wire transfer to California from FCB in TT. The bill’s failure would also hurt the ability of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) watchdog to do its job, he added.

“Non-enactment will seriously damage our international reputation,” Imbert warned. “If correspondent banks don’t want to do business with TT, that will create financial havoc. If we don’t pass this bill it will be disastrous for TT.”

Karim, however, scoffed that Imbert had been singing the same song over the FATCA Bill, but no dire consequences had ever arisen, despite delays in its passage.

He said the present bill is draconian and has far-reaching consequences for the rights and freedoms of all citizens and needed a constitutional majority.

Karim said the Opposition will back good legislation, but not the bill as it now stands, justifying the minority report by three Opposition MPs on the JSC.

He argued that the JSC’s mandate was to consider three bills, that is the current bill plus the Double Taxation Bill and the Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters Bill.

He recalled that in reply to Port of Spain South MP Marlene McDonald’s query, Imbert had once confirmed the three bills should be considered together, as all are inter-related.

Saying the current bill affects the police, FIU, Judiciary and banking sector, Karim hit, “There has been no consultation.”

When Karim alleged the bill could unduly affect members of the Muslim faith, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi rose to ask how. Karim promised to address that at a later stage, while otherwise saying people may fear their sensitive information could get into the wrong hands and affect their businesses and their foreign travel.