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| Finance Minister Larry Howai |
Howai told the Express newspaper the country needs to revisit that property tax and consider introducing something "more efficient, effective and more equitable than proposed previously."
The People's Partnership campaigned against the tax the PNM introduced in 2009 and scrapped it as promised. It has not introduced a new tax.
Howai explained his reasoning behind a tax. "Property taxes exist virtually all over the world because if you own a property, there is a cost attached to it at the micro and macro level: garbage, sewage disposal and everything that goes with maintenance," he told the paper.
"Trinidad and Tobago has had land and building taxes for more than a hundred years; it's always been there, and nobody was 'axing the tax' prior to 2010. I think part of the problem was how the whole issue was communicated.
"By and large, most people expect they have to pay some kind of land and building taxes, but what they felt was the last legislation probably may have been a little bit heavy-handed, and so they rebelled against it," he said.
Howai is determined to grow the Trinidad and Tobago economy even if it means he'll have to take some tough decisions. However, he said to do do it takes more than one ministry or one person.
"It will take some measure of goodwill on the part of everyone; perhaps I need to start speaking in terms of a longer horizon, instead of just an annual budget, because if people think they have to give up something, but they understand they are not the only ones to (make that sacrifice), and it's done equitably, then people will be more likely to agree.
"They mightn't be happy, but at the end of the day, the aim is a more developed country where we can all live comfortably," he told the Express.
The paper said Howai suggested that people should expect a cut to Government spending on transfers and subsidies.
"Those transfers include not just individual subsidies but also to State enterprises which may be inefficient. That is definitely an area we have to look at, but I can't look at it collectively; we have to break it down into its component parts and figure out how we are going to deal with it," he said.
Howai also stated that Government needs to play a role in sheltering citizens at the lowest end of social-economic scale. "Yes, you have to give consideration to that," he said.
The People's Partnership campaigned against the tax the PNM introduced in 2009 and scrapped it as promised. It has not introduced a new tax.
Howai explained his reasoning behind a tax. "Property taxes exist virtually all over the world because if you own a property, there is a cost attached to it at the micro and macro level: garbage, sewage disposal and everything that goes with maintenance," he told the paper.
"Trinidad and Tobago has had land and building taxes for more than a hundred years; it's always been there, and nobody was 'axing the tax' prior to 2010. I think part of the problem was how the whole issue was communicated.
"By and large, most people expect they have to pay some kind of land and building taxes, but what they felt was the last legislation probably may have been a little bit heavy-handed, and so they rebelled against it," he said.
Howai is determined to grow the Trinidad and Tobago economy even if it means he'll have to take some tough decisions. However, he said to do do it takes more than one ministry or one person.
"It will take some measure of goodwill on the part of everyone; perhaps I need to start speaking in terms of a longer horizon, instead of just an annual budget, because if people think they have to give up something, but they understand they are not the only ones to (make that sacrifice), and it's done equitably, then people will be more likely to agree.
"They mightn't be happy, but at the end of the day, the aim is a more developed country where we can all live comfortably," he told the Express.
The paper said Howai suggested that people should expect a cut to Government spending on transfers and subsidies.
"Those transfers include not just individual subsidies but also to State enterprises which may be inefficient. That is definitely an area we have to look at, but I can't look at it collectively; we have to break it down into its component parts and figure out how we are going to deal with it," he said.
Howai also stated that Government needs to play a role in sheltering citizens at the lowest end of social-economic scale. "Yes, you have to give consideration to that," he said.
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