Promise made, promise broken

THE EDITOR: According to a newspaper report, government failed to deliver on its clear and public promise to make private pensions tax-free as of January 1.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the UNC campaigned on this pledge and were voted into office. Minister of Finance Davendranath Tancoo repeated this promise in Parliament during the reading of the 2025-2026 budget.

There was no ambiguity – only a firm deadline. That deadline has passed and based on a media report, pensioners are still being taxed.

Now we are told "the numbers were not ready” and that legislation to deal with this will be addressed sometime in February. This is unacceptable. Governments should not announce effective dates without preparation – unless the promise they made was never intended to be honoured on time.

What makes this failure especially galling to me is the Government’s selective urgency. When it came to halting Stuart Young’s prime ministerial pension, action was swift and decisive.

That same alacrity completely vanished when it came to ordinary pensioners who stood to benefit if this promise was kept.

Meanwhile, annuitants must submit certificates of existence by February 1, ensuring continued tax deductions, before Parliament even revisits the issue. This is not a harmless delay; it is a financial penalty imposed through government indecision.

I am certain many pensioners (myself included) would have already structured their finances/budgets around a promise that was made to them, not by an opposition political party, but by the state itself.

Consequently, Persad-Bissessar owes pensioners an explanation – and more than that, results. When the legislation is finally passed, it must include retroactive (cash as opposed to non-cash) backdated to January 1, 2026.

Promises made in Parliament are not campaign slogans. They are obligations. Accordingly, failure to completely discharge this obligation (inclusive of the refund) would make the budget announcement of tax-free pensions from January 1, seem less like government policy and more like propaganda from a political party.

CLAUDE A. JOB

Peeved pensioner