A lot of people seem to have holes in their wallets, because they keep talking about Anguilla needing “broad-based” taxes – as if they don’t know they already pay them. Lots of them. In fact, we already pay the government about $13 million every month in “broad-based” taxes included in the prices of our food and goods, every minute online, and watt of electricity – impacting nearly every household and member of the workforce (with another $5-6 million/month of more specifically applied taxes, fees and levies).
Any of these sound familiar? Bank service fees (unrelated to GST, the bank deposit levy), customs surcharge/service fees (CSF), import customs duties (ICD), these are “sales” taxes on everything – including prescription medicines, with special duties on alcohol, fuel and gas, bulk petroleum – as well as IGT and millions in “excise” tax on countless items – collected by Customs, phone and Internet tax, Interim Stabilisation Levy, driver’s licence and vehicle registration fees, and in the price of every tank of gas and propane (before GST), as well as business licences and property tax – and a lottery levy! These are all “broad-based” taxes; and now, GST! Do we really “need” more “broad-based” taxes?
Perhaps the confusion about not having “broad-based” taxes has been the unwitting result of 55 years of freedom to start and grow a business in Anguilla. As in, Proud, Strong and Free?
Until GST. Businesses were not forced into “registering” to provide unpaid tax collection services for the government. They must now risk losing customers by demanding added taxes, and then hand them over, on time, to IRD every month. And they must meticulously account for every cent they take in, earn, spend or hope to save – under threat of fines, late fees, audits, forced testimony, assessments or criminalisation. This is now the law.
Still, in an effort to make GST somehow less painful, there has been an ongoing discussion around “sales” tax at the point of sale – why? Because other places do it? Some businesses also have point of sale (POS) systems that can add taxes to purchases, similar to adding service charges. And they hoped to avoid a quagmire of inventory and compounded import taxes. Understood and appreciated. But if you paid for the ferry at the port, why would you pay again on the boat?
After doubling the tax burden on the People, and doubling it again in recent administrations, there is simply no moral justification for GST – or any new tax. More than 100 existing “broad-based” and other taxes, levies and fees are increasingly pushing people into poverty – accelerated by staggering global inflation and a lingering pandemic already affecting imports and adding risks to tourism. Now, we are seeing heroics to “save” people from the poverty caused by – and now adding to those same taxes – while forcing GST onto this teetering economy! And they just increased the budget in the House yet again, a government burden that has grown exponentially, without improvement in services for the same (or fewer) citizens.
Nonetheless, there is still a gap. And like it or not, they are determined to take this from the private sector one way or the other. Thus, Government can thrive while forcing more People into poverty. No, GST will not help us “all” to prosper!
How could anyone suggest more “broad-based” – or any other new taxes, as the economy is beginning to fracture from the ones we have? Dozens of them, “broad-based” and more! GST must be repealed, without adding new laws empowering government to force businesses to work as tax collectors. And any others giving powers to favour one group or another in a stormy sea of inclusions, exclusions and the rest of the regulations – every time they go to the House.
But why did the Concerned Citizens suggest returning the $6-7 million taken from Public Assistance to the People – and increase the Levy by 6 percent (or, to cut spending by $22 million, or sharing 5 percent cuts and higher Levy, on both sides)? Because each would provide the $22 million per year on which full GST imposition was based. As a separate budget item, the Levy was transparent and served to fill the “gap” the last time we needed to do so. While onerous, 6 percent is less painful than losing 13 percent of purchasing power with GST; it would also mercifully spare those making less than $2,000 a month – and barely making it. And as civil servants also pay the Levy, we could all share the sacrifice and accountability to the nation and future generations.
So let’s let Customs collect the “sales” tax we already pay at the port (among many “broad-based” taxes), make immediate cuts to share the sacrifice, and adopt alternatives by adjusting existing taxes in place before IGT and now, GST. We have all paid for the ferry at the port! We would need holes in our wallets (or our heads!) to willingly pay again on the boat. Repeal GST. Now.
This topic was first discussed on social media on 29th June 2022, cites recent Concerned Citizens’ proposals, and reflects updated and expanded economic and cultural considerations previously raised in the Anguilla House of Assembly on July 5, 2021, by Ms. Melinda Goddard, Principal of ClienTell Consulting, in a presentation to the Select Committee on (GST) Goods and Service Tax Public Hearing.
