President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Dr Ronnie Yearwood has criticised Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s most recent Budget presentation as being deficient in several important areas, including tax credits and relief for the average citizen.
Dr Yearwood, who spoke during his party’s St John branch meeting on Sunday, said that though no additional taxes were outright announced, it was a bad move not to announce steps to address the financial burden facing Barbadians or how the government was seeking to help circulate money through the economy.
“This Budget did not prepare or provide you with a platform to have money in your hands, that you can pass around and through the economy. You aren’t hiring anybody, you ain’t hiring nobody to cut your grass sometimes, or you cutting it less. That weekend food that you used to buy, you are probably saying ‘Well you know what? This weekend I can’t buy that’, but if you don’t buy the weekend food, Shirley shop can’t open, though. The children she trying to send school, that is going to be a problem,” he said.
In her address last week, the PM announced 50 per cent tax credits for various investments and business activities from April 1, 2024, including investments under public-private partnerships; for centres offering artificial intelligence, coding, robotics, and digital training; for the provision of elderly care facilities and hospices; for projects that “result in net zero emissions in Barbados”; for the construction of laboratories; and investments in sports and entertainment venues.
The DLP president argued that the tax credits announced for businesses will not lead to any feasible boost in the economy, given the struggles the government has experienced over the years in giving tax returns to citizens and businesses.
“I don’t think that tax credits incentivise businesses to do anything because if you know you have to wait so long to get your money, you are not making that investment in the first place. Given the record of this government in paying back VAT returns, packing back your income tax, and dealing with any money the government owes you, there is no confidence really that any businesses would invest in Barbados because of this new tax regime,” he contended.
“On top of that, tax for businesses is already low, so what other incentives does a government really need to offer to get business to be here? You already pay five or nine per cent as the case may be, which is no tax really. What the government really should have focused on is creating, if they wanted to, a single tax regime, but importantly they should have focused on creating tax credits for you,” he told the gathering at the St John Parish Church Hall.
Yearwood questioned why there was a lack of relief given in areas previously mentioned by the administration.
“What happened to the mortgage tax credit, what happened with the child tax credit, what happened with the same pension tax credit? All of these are things that would allow you to have more money at your disposal, or be able to claim more money at your disposal. These are the things that would have done something for you in this Budget.
“What has the Budget done to address the fact we literally have an ageing crisis on our hands? That is a serious crisis. Some of the things the Budget could have done is to provide the ability for those of us who can work from home to be carers by providing a tax incentive for you to take care of your elderly,” the DLP president said. (SB)
