Legislation coming soon for property tax: Moonilal

A report in the Express newspaper Wednesday said the People's Partnership government is getting ready to introduce a new property tax to replace the one the previous government had introduced.

Quoting government House leader Dr Roodal Moonilal, the report said thge plan is to bring the legislation to Parliament early in the next session.

"We expect by September we would have the legislation," the paper quoted Moonilal as saying.

The parties that form the present governing coalition campaigned against the tax that it called oppressive. Once in government they kept their promise and scrapped it.

For 2010 there was noi property tax imposed and the same has happened in 2011. This leaves the government short of millions of dollars in potential revenue from the property tax.

Moonilal was not sure if the tax to be introduced would be retroactive to January 2010. The paper quoted him as saying no decision on that has been taken.

The paper also asked Moonilal about the billion-dollar gas subsidy. The Finance Minister is on record as saying that it would remain in place. However this week the governor of the Central Bank suggested that it should be reviewed.

"I think the Governor of the Central Bank was very forthright and aggressive on this issue and all parties should heed his concern and advice," Moonilal told the Express. said. 

However he agreed with his cabinet colleague that the subsidy should stay. "It is a lingering issue that comes up every time we look at financial problems...But it is not before us now and we are not contemplating (removing) it at this time."