Property taxes in Trinidad and Tobago will see a substantial hike in the new year, ranging from 3% per cent of market value for residential properties to 6% for industrial assets, calculated on the value of installed plant and equipment. The change was announced in the House of Representatives Monday in the budget presented by Finance Minister Karen Nunez Tesheira.
The minister said the present system of property taxation is outdated, noting that there is a wide disparity in the rate of tax charged from region to region.
She pointed out that properties located in the nine Regional Corporations and Tobago pay a rate of tax of between $10 and $20 per acre of land with 7½ percent tax on the annual rental value of the building. The last assessments date to 1945, she said.
"The existing property tax regime is thus antiquated, inefficient and inequitable," the minister said, adding that starting January 1, 2010 the government will introduce a single platform to assess all properties and collect taxes throughout Trinidad and Tobago with a harmonised tax regime.
She said the Valuation Division will be responsible for assessments of properties and the tax collection will be the responsibility of the Board of Inland Revenue.
Properties will be assessed in accordance with international standards, she said, "to ensure that they are valued in an equitable manner." In addition, the minister promised "an efficient and transparent system of objections, appeals and queries for all assessment and valuation matters."
She said the method of calculation of taxes was developed following substantial consultation experts and will be based on a four-tiered property tax regime calculated on present market values of properties.
The tax:
- Residential - 3%
- Commercial - 5%
- Agricultural - 1%
- Industrial - 6%, based on 6 per cent of the installed cost of plant, machinery and associated buildings.
The new system will provide for part payments as well as prepayments of property taxes.
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