Moves by the elected Government and the Opposition to vote for the repeal the Interim Administration’s TCI Value Added Tax Ordinance of 2012 have dominated Friday’s meeting of the House of Assembly on Grand Turk.
Both the Premier, the Honorable Dr Rufus Ewing, and the Leader of the Opposition, the Honorable Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, spoke at length against the introduction of VAT on April 1st. The Opposition Leader spoke first and referred to what she described the lack of adequate consultation with the public and the Government’s own advisory bodies during 2011 and 2012.
She appealed for democracy to prevail when it was clear almost the entire country rejected VAT. She accused the British Government of not heeding some its own eminent tax experts in the UK and of ignoring the decision of the Cayman Islands and other Caribbean jurisdictions not to introduce VAT. She suggested the current tax regime could be boosted to provide the necessary revenues required by TCIG to both govern the country and pay off its loan commitments…. assisted for example by the current number of people employed in the VAT Uni
The Premier spoke for three quarters of an hour on the issue of Value Added Tax and made it clear the people of the TCI were screaming ‘No’ to it. The elected Government had consulted widely and were satisfied there were suitable alternatives to its introduction. His Government had no choice in their mandate to the electorate to move for the repeal of the 2012 Ordinance.
The lone voice speaking in favour of the 2012 TCI VAT Bill was the member appointed by the Governor, the Honorable Lillian Missick.
Several other members of the House spoke in the debate – all against the introduction of VAT. One that won resounding applause came from the Deputy Speaker the Honorable Josephine Connolly. She said the elected assembly had the moral and constitutional authority to repeal the VAT Ordinance and called on the Secretary of State in London, the Governor, and the Chief Financial Officer to take a step back on an issue that had damaged the standing of UK representatives in the TCI.
