Moonilal: If government MPs give up tax exemptions, I’ll give up mine

OROPOUCHE East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal has thrown out a challenge to the 22 government MPs in the House of Representatives, including the Prime Minister and Finance Minister – surrender your vehicle purchase-tax exemptions and he too will surrender his.

He issued the challenge on Wednesday as he roundly slammed the government for, on one hand, telling people they have to pay all requisite taxes and duties to buy a new vehicle while on the other hand, announcing that all tax exemptions for parliamentarians and members of the Judiciary remain untouched.

“If Government demonstrates their commitment to tightening their belts as they are calling on the ordinary man to do, I will give up my concessions,” Moonilal said.

He expressed shock at the total amount of tax exemptions enjoyed by about eight senior government parliamentarians over the past five years, amounting to about $7.07 million.

Records showed that a sitting MP bought a Range Rover luxury SUV earlier this year at a market value of $1.4 million and enjoyed VAT, motor vehicle tax and stamp duty exemptions of $687,355.41.

A government senator, who asked not to be identified, said that the concessions set out for parliamentarians are determined by the Salaries Review Commission.

“It comes with the terms and conditions of the portfolio,” the senator said. “Parliamentarians did not come up with this themselves."

Moonilal was critical not only of the decision to tax new vehicles but of the proposal to tax “luxury food items,” which include apples, grapes, Champagne and fine wine and escargots (snails).

“There is a level of hypocrisy that needs to be addressed,” Moonilal said. “Ministers are wolfing down shrimp and lobster and guzzling Champagne and fine wine, and lower-income people have to survive on curry potato and mauby.

"Personally, I don’t even know what escargot is,” Moonilal said, adding, “I thought it was some kind of worm.”

Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes called on the Finance Minister to explain exactly how much there was to gain on these luxury food taxes.

“We have to discuss whether this is value for money,” Haynes said. “The minister did not say what he hoped to gain from this. He didn’t give accountability for why these measures were there in the first place.”