On the weekly radio programme “Just the Facts” on Monday 13th June, Opposition Leader Cora Richardson-Hodge, strongly refuted Don Mitchell QC’s claim that the AUF (Anguilla United Front) administration was responsible for bringing GST to bear upon the populace of Anguilla.
In his article, published in The Anguillian of Friday, 10th June, entitled “The AUF Goods and Services Tax”, Mr. Mitchell purported: “It was not high sea-surface temperatures that caused Hurricane GST to develop. It was the AUF administration’s signature back in 2018 on the agreement to impose GST that set off the disaster. The present APM administration, appointed on 30th June 2020, is now taking the blame for it…But it was the AUF administration which committed Anguilla to the full implementation of GST effective 1st January 2023.
In strong denial, the Honourable Opposition Leader sought to distance herself, and the former AUF administration from Mr. Mitchell’s claim, stressing that the document related to the future imposition of GST, that passed through the hands of the AUF government, was merely a draft document.
She insisted: “When elected members of Government enter office and meet a draft document which has neither gone to Executive Council, nor met with consultation, nor tabled in the House, that incoming Government can make whatever changes it desires to make to that draft, because it is not approved. The AUF did not approve any GST Bill to be created into a GST Act. Further, the draft document that the APM Government met in no way reflects the nature of the GST that will be implemented on 1st July, upcoming.”
“The article written by Mr. Don Michell is very unfortunate,” the Opposition Leader said, “because the representations made give the impression that this is an Anguilla United Front’s Goods and Services Tax, meaning that it was created by the Anguilla United Front.”
Then, making a light interruption, Former Parliamentarian and co-host, Evans McNeil Rogers, interjected: “But, in that same article, Mr. Mitchell indicated that on July 29th 2021, the GST Act came into being. The Act came into being on that date, and we were in Opposition at that point in time, when the majority of the elected members voted against it.”
“Yes, you are right, Mr. Rogers,” Mrs. Richardson Hodge concurred. “At that time, the majority of the elected representatives, both Opposition and Government, were in opposition to the GST. It took the Deputy Governor and the Attorney General to utilize their voting privilege to pass the Bill and enforce the Act. So, all this is inconsistent with Mr. Mitchell’s claim that this is an Anguilla United Front tax.”
The Opposition Leader continued by referring to a comment made by the Honourable Member for Road South: “In a recent House of Assembly meeting,” she said, “the Honourable Member for Road South, Mr. Haydn Hughes, stood up and confirmed that [his father] Hubert Benjamin Hughes, was going to pass the GST during his term in office from 2010 to 2015.
“People have to understand that the GST was in progress over a number of years and it has passed through the hands of several administrations. This was because of the worldwide economic downturn in 2008 and 2009. And so, in 2011, under the Hubert Hughes administration, it was decided to implement a broad-base tax. It was agreed in Executive Council that the Tax Reform Committee would move forward with the process of implementing the GST, and its implementation was scheduled for no later than 2014.”
“We see a blame game taking place here with Mr. Mitchell’s article,” Mrs. Richardson Hodge observed. “But people have to understand that the GST has gone through a progression because of the financial situation that affected Anguilla over a period of time. So, no one can justifiably say that this is an AUF GST, and that when the APM came to office they were forced to pass it.”
She went on: “The APM administration campaigned on the promise that it will not implement the GST. That was the platform upon which they ran for elections. But now the people are upset because of the broken promise that was made. It is not enough for the APM to say to the people that they tweaked it, and the GST that is being implemented is of a different nature to the GST that they met. They promised that they would not implement it at all, and now this is the hurdle that they have to cross over.”
Obviously, the Goods and Services Tax is slated to be implemented come July 1st. Unfortunately, in accord with the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the APM administration has the call of duty to implement it. At this juncture, it does not matter which administration was responsible for discussing it, agreeing to it, passing the Bill, or enforcing the Act. Pointing fingers at this time will yield no remedial recourse.
As last week’s editorial in The Anguillian stated, “Whether we like it or not, from all indications the GST will be implemented effective 1st July 2022.” These are crucial times, and the populace of Anguilla must now step up to the plate and face the music – GST is here.
