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#Speakingout – A hindrance to the economy

by Barbados Today
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For the first time during my lifetime, I am reading that a Parliamentarian has questioned the imposition of Land Tax. I do not recall ever hearing, seeing or reading a Parliamentarian on the Floor of the House speaking against the payment of Land Tax. Senator Crystal Drakes should be complimented for her bravery, and from all reports, it seems as if she played the role of “Lone Ranger” with no other parliamentarians supporting her position.

There is really no incentive for citizens to own a piece of the rock if they are going to be taxed until the day of death. Furthermore, for owners of undeveloped land, it is grossly punitive to place additional taxation on them because it can create greater difficulty to accumulate funds to construct a house on the heavily taxed land.

Where are the opposition voices on this matter of punitive land and property taxes that are barriers and stumbling blocks to progress and development particularly in a depressed economy? One would think that a government managing a crippled economy would facilitate prospective homeowners in fulfilling their dreams.

The last tax increase on undeveloped land in the middle of a recession was a blatant error because it is widely agreed by economists that it is not wise to use taxation to get out of a recession.

Additionally, Justin Marlowe, Professor of Public Finance at the University of Washington in an article,

The Fairest Tax In a Recession May Be the Least Popular, quoted other experts as saying: “A tax should minimally impact how businesses and consumers make investment decisions.”

President Barack Obama summed it up by saying, “The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of the recession because that would just suck up and take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole”.

This letter-writer is almost certain that the Law Review Commissioner will have his work cut out with a bombardment of requests for the abolishment of land taxes that stand in the way of investment, development, the creation of jobs and growth in an ailing economy.

Michael Ray

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