…new taxes to give Govt needed fiscal space – Minister Henry
Budget 2017 is transformative and will not be withdrawn; further the taxation measures proposed are aimed at putting in place a growth reoriented system that would improve efficiency since the current A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) “inherited a broken system and that is no secret.”
The defiant position was adumbrated by Minister within the Education Ministry Nicolette Henry, who in her presentation to the debate on the 2017 Estimates said Guyana’s taxation system require practical measures.
She used the opportunity to call out the political opposition over a perceived hypocritical stance on the proposed taxation policies by the administration and recalled 2007 when the Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced to Guyana under former President Bharrat Jagdeo, now Opposition Leader.
According to Minister Henry, at the time when VAT was introduced there had been similar outcries in opposition to the imposition of VAT from sections of society from groups such as Red Thread and other grassroots women organisations.
Minister Henry recalled that at the time, the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration opted to proceed with the imposition of the tax and told Guyanese to “look at the bigger picture.”
She said in that context the APNU/AFC Administration is also now calling on Guyanese, inclusive of the political Opposition and civil society, “to look at the bigger picture.”
According to Minister Henry, the Government desperately needs the fiscal and other space required in order to deliver on its objectives. The tax measure cannot only be good when you are introducing it, Minister Henry told the Opposition in the House during her presentation: “What is good for the goose is good for the gander”
In an appeal to the populace, Minister Henry said: “Let me say to people of this country, you should never allow yourself to be minimised by anyone by letting them telling you what they think you want to hear.”
She was adamant that responsible governments the world over have to make decisions that are prudent and far-sighted, “not only for people but for itself…we have to be given the space fiscal.”
According to Henry, after listening to kicking, screaming and bawling from the Opposition camp, it would be more productive and expressed optimism “that they will step up and see the big picture and play their individual and collective part.”
Selective amnesia
She posited it as interesting, to see how with the passage of time people’s views change and many can in fact suffer from selective amnesia.
According to Henry, in 2007 when the then Government introduced tax reform the nation was told that VAT would in fact be revenue neutral but “our experience taught us otherwise.”
Henry’s presentation to the debate on the 2017 Estimates followed that of Opposition MP Neendkumar who dismissed the 2017 Budget as “the Foundation of Governance by taxes.”
