PHILIPSBURG:— The plan presented by the Minister of TEATT Ludmilla de Weever to the parliament of St. Maarten last week is just the Minister’s “big idea” says Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion. Irion made the statement at the Council of Minister’s press conference on Wednesday when he was asked by SMN News if he could provide further details on the tax abolishment that was part of the plan. Irion further explained that the Minister did inform him of her ideas while she is also aware of the tax legislation his ministry is working on. He said the Minister of TEATT did ask if it was possible for the ministry to look into the area of implementing the transaction tax while abolishing the wage and income tax.
The questions posed to the Minister are as follows however no clear answers were given to the questions.
1. (a) what timeline is to be expected for the tax abolishment
(b) have the government been working on the amendments to implement the transaction tax.
(c) how will the government achieve full compliance and where is the contract with Bearing Point.
Irion said the government is busy working on tax reform and that the changes will be presented to the parliament of St. Maarten by December 2021. The Minister said that the transaction tax will not be part of the reform he intends to present to the parliament of St. Maarten by December 2021. He further explained that if one of the biggest taxes is removed then it must be replaced by something else. Irion said the most important part of the tax legislation is to keep it simple.
The Minister of Finance said one of the challenges is to make the tax legislation simple and understandable.
Irion made clear that taxes will not be implemented one at a time and it will all be incorporated in the tax reform.
Minister was asked if he supports the plan presented by his colleague Minister he said that he supports the plan, he said that he supports any idea with regards to taxes however since the government does not capture everything with its taxes and that calculations have to take place.
Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said that the plan is a goal by the Minister however due diligence must take place that also includes the measures in the plan related to the health and COVID-19.
