T&T government to create new revenue agency, pay $350M in VSEP

The government of Trinidad & Tobago plans to pay more than 2,000 employees at the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and the Customs & Excise Division up to $350 million in Voluntary Employee Separation Packages (VSEP) as it moves to merge both government agencies to form the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA).

Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira told reporters government explored the idea of an automatic transfer of staff from the two divisions to the new one but "it was never an option". However she said those who are losing their jobs would have an opportunity to reapply and those who meet the criteria would be hired.

Nunez-Tesheira expects that Parliament would pass the necessary legislation to establish the TTRA by the middle of this year with the establishment of the TTRA later. She said a management board and human resource consultants will carry out the transition phase.

"It is not about trying to close down" she said adding, "It is about trying to create something better for Trinidad and Tobago."

Nunez-Tesheira did not say how many employees would be rehired and explained that “It’s not a question at this time of rationalising numbers. The exercise is about creating a new entity with all the best international practices."

Workers at the new agency, she said, would not be public servants. And there would be no automatic job transfers.

The minister said, “Everyone will be given a chance to apply and it will not be the Government doing the interviewing. It will be the entity that we are putting in place who will work with a human resources team and will also work with our consultants to make sure that whatever selection process is transparent and objective that achieves the objective that we are speaking to.”

The President of the Public Services Association (PSA) Jennifer Baptiste-Primus called the government move “an act of betrayal” and told reporters on Friday, “We not taking that!”

The minister said she had to wait until Cabinet had approved the change, which it did on Thursday. “I was upfront with her before we went to the public,” she said.