Senator Maharaj: How does finance bill help public?

INDEPENDENT Senator Sunity Maharaj said data should be provided to show the benefits people could gain by the passage of the Finance Bill 2023.

She made this observation in her contribution to the debate on the bill in the Senate on Tuesday.

Maharaj shared a concern raised earlier in the sitting by Opposition Senator Wade Mark about whether the bill seemed simple in appearance but advanced deeper changes in its fine print.

Against this background, she said the case for the bill's measures benefitting many people would be "greatly strengthened by data."

Maharaj said in the absence of data, "one is loathe to accuse people of mischief."

She then referred to a provision in the bill which introduced a 150 per cent tax allowance of up to $500,000 on corporate sponsorship to public and private schools registered with the Education Ministry.

Maharaj noted Finance Minister Colm Imbert's comments at the start of the debate about schools benefitting from such sponsorships.

She suggested there should be some measure to ensure that the schools that need the sponsorship most receive it.

Maharaj was concerned that in the absence of a clear standard of defining how this sponsorship is managed, it could widen what some people describe as a gap between prestige and non-prestige schools.

She said while there may be a perception that the CEOs of some companies were students of the former, she had no hard evidence to confirm this.

Maharaj acknowledged Imbert's statement that residential property taxes would be collected from January 1, 2024. She asked when would commercial and industrial property taxes be implemented. Maharaj believed these taxes should be implemented soon.

The bill proposed a cyber security investment tax allowance to companies "that incur expenditure in respect of investments made in cyber security software and network security monitoring equipment, up to a maximum of $500,000."

Maharaj welcomed initiatives to protect public and private sector companies from cyber attacks.

Later in the sitting, Independent Senator Dr Paul Richards supported these initiatives as well.

But he added, " It may need some finessing. We can walk and chew gum at the same time."

Richards said most people are more concerned about being physically assaulted or killed than being the victim of cyber attacks.

He added that he was glad there are now more conversations about cyber attacks in the wake of incidents such as the October 9 cyber attack on the Telecommunications Services of TT (TSTT).