Finance Bill passed in Senate

The Finance (Supplementary Appropriation) (Financial Year 2019) Bill, 2019 was read a third time and passed in the Senate after a 13-hour debate ended late on Wednesday night. Debate began at 10am on Wednesday.The Senate was adjourned to May 21 at 1.30 pm.

During her contribution Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West said the upcoming three-month tax amnesty is being introduced as a precursor to the introduction of the TT Revenue Authority.“We are giving you a chance to come up to date, and after that don’t ask for any relief. We are going to ensure that under the TTRA (we) have all the taxpayers' assistance that is required to help people with compliance – but we are not going to be shirking our responsibility that all taxpayers pay their taxes. file their returns and are accurate in their declarations.”She said her focus was not on how much revenue would be generated but on assisting citizens to fulfil their obligations to the State.

She also expressed confidence that TT’s gas production would remain stable for the rest of 2019.