Indarsingh: Revenue Authority a political ruse

THE TT Revenue Authority (TTRA) is designed for the Finance Minister to selectively, arbitrarily and unfairly appoint a board of directors and control staffing, with sensitive information on citizens, Opposition MP Rudranath Indarsingh has warned.

“The proposed structure will allow for a politically appointed board of management to control the hiring of staff, who conducts audits and monitors the books and records of every taxpayer to check for compliance,” Indarsingh said at a UNC media briefing in Chaguanas on June 30.

The Revenue Authority Act was scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2023.

The Public Services Association (PSA) has challenged the Act, which is now before the judicial committee of the Privy Council.

The UNC, he said, has always opposed the establishment of the TTRA, the government “unscrupulously removed the special majority requirement and with a razor-thin majority in the Parliament passed (the Act).

“The PNM government of PM Dr Keith Rowley paid no heed, no regard and no respect for the constitution.

“We in the UNC regard the implementation and the high-handed approach to operationalise the TTRA as a wholesale PNM takeover or hijack of the Board of Inland Revenue and the Customs and Excise Division.

"The government, through its actions, have removed the independence of the Board of Inland Revenue and substituted it with a political hand-picked revenue authority.

“We have said previously…that the removal of the special majority requirement has interfered significantly with the issue of property rights and privacy rights which are protected by sections four and five of the constitution of TT.

He accused Finance Minister Colm Imbert of being reckless, arrogant, vindictive, and having gone “rogue.”

He said Imbert’s actions were that of a “desperate and drowning man who has failed and failed miserably to bring any sense of relief to the ordinary citizens of this country in terms of growth, the diversification and…improving the quality of life and standard of living of citizens of this country over the last nine years.”

Indarsingh said the population must reject the PNM in the next general election, adding that UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and other opposition MPs have warned citizens that the country is “financially broke.”

“This government is of the opinion that it can tax citizens of our country into prosperity. The reality is that we are heading towards a budget deficit of over $9 billion. With no revenue streams on the horizon, budget deficits will grow even larger in the coming years. What has the PM and the Minister of Finance brought new to the table in nine years?”

Indarsingh also questioned the US$750 million bond raised by the government, noting that it will be repaid to bondholders at a 6.4 per cent interest rate.

“The incurrence of this debt was described as a tremendous success. He (Imbert) is in his glee and he will want to tell you all is well but by the end of April, 2024, the Central Government debt rose from TT$106.9 billion.”

He said the debt will take TT’s foreign reserves to around US$6.1 billion but will see external debt to about US$6 billion.

“Therefore, our foreign reserves net of external debt will be effectively zero and the rising debt burden will be a burden, not for PM Rowley and members of the Cabinet; it will be a burden that successive generations will have to repay and that is why…the attempt by the minister of finance to operationalise the (TTRA) is indeed one that must not be treated lightly.

Indarsingh also accused the PM and government ministers of disrespecting the courts and the constitution.

“What they want to do is really expand contract work in the public service as opposed to decent work.”

He said the government is deliberately stifling unions.

“Their plan and focus is to decimate and eliminate the trade unions from the work environment,” Indarsingh said.