Property Tax in Trinidad & Tobago

[88sins]

anyone feeling this?

Property tax: the economic booster Trinidad and Tobago needs

The government’s property tax could be the booster shot this economy needs.

I understand that sounds absurd. No one likes taxes. When you’re living in a country with widespread waste and graft, an instinctive willingness to raise the pitchforks against the taxman is even more understandable.

After all, surely higher taxes should discourage economic activity, not the other way around? And most times they do.

But this property tax is different.

The narrative so far, even from its supporters, is that the property tax is a necessary evil in order to buttress public finances during a downturn and pay for local services.

For its opponents, a tax is an affront, given the economic ravages of covid19.

What both sides are missing is that this could be a positive economic boost.

Context is necessary. A whole generation of investors has experienced 20 years of consistently rising property rises, artificially buoyed by oil and gas money. When growth tanked, along with the 2015 energy price crash, property prices held stable.

A large part of this is because there is very little cost to sitting on idle property. It is seen as an inflation hedge that is unlikely to decline very much in value.

The result – a significant over-investment in property. But that over-investment has not resulted in lower prices – because most owners just sit on their property, rather than sell or lower rents. The market therefore remains stagnant, and hundreds of millions if not billions are trapped in unproductive uses.

Just before 2015, a horde of businesspeople invested in gated-property developments in the $3-$4 million range. Many of these continue to sit idle – out of reach for young people. Most owners don’t even care if they don’t collect rent.

This has contributed to stagnation and decline in a developing economy that is in desperate need of productive, foreign-exchange-earning assets. Raising capital for a new business or an export-producing idea is that much harder when you’re competing against a property as an asset.

The property tax can change this. By imposing a cost on idle property owners will be incentivised to hustle either to sell or rent their property. In the first place, this will largely result in lower rents and prices for young people.

Crucially though, more people will start to look for alternative investments, such as private equity or local stocks or bonds. With mortgage-backed lending slightly less attractive, banks will equally be nudged towards lending to non-property investments, helping to unlock some of the $8 billion they had in excess cash reserves as of June 2021. The result could be an increase in economic activity.

By jolting investors and banks out of their risk-averse stupor, it can move the frontier of what people may consider investing in. Suddenly your niece’s environmentally-friendly packaging company or your nephew’s friend’s tech start-up looks more interesting.

Our mutual funds, brokerages, publicly traded companies, and others should take this as a new opportunity to roll out new investment options, and to deploy capital in more interesting forms of private equity.

Businesses need to get ready to be investible. Risk aversion isn’t entirely to blame. Deal-flow is just as much of a problem. Too many entrepreneurs still fail to demonstrate the potential of well-defined addressable markets, or even to present decent projections.

It is not just start-ups. Managers and owners should dust off their capital expansion plans. We should have thousands of investor-friendly businesses with pitch decks at the ready, preparing to scale.

Our economic system, from our overvalued currency to our antiquated labour laws to our forests of red tape, is designed to keep us from taking risks. Hemingway wrote that one goes bankrupt: “gradually, and then suddenly”. Risk aversion is the luxury of the financially secure – which TT is not.

Too often we attack our political system for rewarding populism. This tax is hardly that. It is in fact almost universally unpopular – which is why it has been treated as a hot potato, tossed from one party to the other.

But tax like this is good news for our political system. When more people are directly paying taxes, it will make us even less forgiving of poor execution, infrastructure, or governance. This is a policy that will strengthen our longer-term institutions. Young people should celebrate that.

We need to start taking more measured, calculated business risks that play to our strengths in strong export industries. The property tax can be the nudge we need to get moving.

Kiran Mathur Mohammed is an economist and co-founder of medl, an IDB Lab and Microsoft-backed social impact health tech company. Send feedback to kmmpub@gmail.com. 

https://newsday.co.tt/2021/09/23/proper ... bago-needs

This has to be the most jackass utterance ever made in the entire history of the English language.

So, say I pay 4M for a property, and renting it out for 6K/m, but can't find tenants to occupy it, but I cool with it remaining unoccupied.
But because of increased property taxes, I will lower my rent rate to allow a younger probably more irresponsible person that may eventually not be able to pay my reduced rent in a timely and consistent manner long term, just so I can get some money to pay the increased property tax? Or I go sell it for a loss just to get away from having to pay the property tax? And that is how they plan to stimulate economic growth and movement?


Anyway, in case allyuh didn't know
Politicians and their minions live by a motto, "if yuh can't blind them with brilliance, baffle them with bull$#!t".
Please note, politicians aren't known for their brilliance.

But what's the point he trying to make about people just owning property but not doing anything with it? He trying to say that holding to property for the price to go up and then sell it?

Any right thinking person in this country should not want to pay any tax as long as Rowley is in power and is giving himself the power to do things like go to Australia with Stuart Young and buy two both with no proper Procurement procedure.

That jackass talks about "encouraging investment", and have no idea of what an "investment" looks like.

Who remembers when Toolumhead say property tax would be at the minimum "about the same price as a zaboca"?
Heads up, the minimum property tax is $48.60/month, or roughly $583/year. Almost NOBODY going to have to pay that little outside of people who live in some kinda plywood shack in sea lots. So I done seeing, me in my 4 br 2 storey with pump andac, by the photos of the outside alone they go hit me a arv of 6-7k/month minimum, so I expect my tax would be about at minimum $2300/year, so i will be paying nearly $200/month, to live in a house I already paid for, and get nothing for my money

That is one hell of a zaboca

[De Dragon]

So yuh saying the crappy AG is able to outmaneuver the silk empowered UNC, to the point where he can slip clauses that require constitutional majority in to the bill after the simple majority vote.?

And it's only tuner that pick up on it.

Not the legal luminance that is the UNC
Not the independent bench
Not the Law Association.

Just tuner.

Sounds legit.
L
O
L

In your haste to glom Arse Wari's gonads, you seem to be over relying on the term outmaneuver.
Like his alleged children with guns, doing something that cannot be challenged, is not that

[De Dragon]

anyone feeling this?

Property tax: the economic booster Trinidad and Tobago needs

The government’s property tax could be the booster shot this economy needs.

I understand that sounds absurd. No one likes taxes. When you’re living in a country with widespread waste and graft, an instinctive willingness to raise the pitchforks against the taxman is even more understandable.

After all, surely higher taxes should discourage economic activity, not the other way around? And most times they do.

But this property tax is different.

The narrative so far, even from its supporters, is that the property tax is a necessary evil in order to buttress public finances during a downturn and pay for local services.

For its opponents, a tax is an affront, given the economic ravages of covid19.

What both sides are missing is that this could be a positive economic boost.

Context is necessary. A whole generation of investors has experienced 20 years of consistently rising property rises, artificially buoyed by oil and gas money. When growth tanked, along with the 2015 energy price crash, property prices held stable.

A large part of this is because there is very little cost to sitting on idle property. It is seen as an inflation hedge that is unlikely to decline very much in value.

The result – a significant over-investment in property. But that over-investment has not resulted in lower prices – because most owners just sit on their property, rather than sell or lower rents. The market therefore remains stagnant, and hundreds of millions if not billions are trapped in unproductive uses.

Just before 2015, a horde of businesspeople invested in gated-property developments in the $3-$4 million range. Many of these continue to sit idle – out of reach for young people. Most owners don’t even care if they don’t collect rent.

This has contributed to stagnation and decline in a developing economy that is in desperate need of productive, foreign-exchange-earning assets. Raising capital for a new business or an export-producing idea is that much harder when you’re competing against a property as an asset.

The property tax can change this. By imposing a cost on idle property owners will be incentivised to hustle either to sell or rent their property. In the first place, this will largely result in lower rents and prices for young people.

Crucially though, more people will start to look for alternative investments, such as private equity or local stocks or bonds. With mortgage-backed lending slightly less attractive, banks will equally be nudged towards lending to non-property investments, helping to unlock some of the $8 billion they had in excess cash reserves as of June 2021. The result could be an increase in economic activity.

By jolting investors and banks out of their risk-averse stupor, it can move the frontier of what people may consider investing in. Suddenly your niece’s environmentally-friendly packaging company or your nephew’s friend’s tech start-up looks more interesting.

Our mutual funds, brokerages, publicly traded companies, and others should take this as a new opportunity to roll out new investment options, and to deploy capital in more interesting forms of private equity.

Businesses need to get ready to be investible. Risk aversion isn’t entirely to blame. Deal-flow is just as much of a problem. Too many entrepreneurs still fail to demonstrate the potential of well-defined addressable markets, or even to present decent projections.

It is not just start-ups. Managers and owners should dust off their capital expansion plans. We should have thousands of investor-friendly businesses with pitch decks at the ready, preparing to scale.

Our economic system, from our overvalued currency to our antiquated labour laws to our forests of red tape, is designed to keep us from taking risks. Hemingway wrote that one goes bankrupt: “gradually, and then suddenly”. Risk aversion is the luxury of the financially secure – which TT is not.

Too often we attack our political system for rewarding populism. This tax is hardly that. It is in fact almost universally unpopular – which is why it has been treated as a hot potato, tossed from one party to the other.

But tax like this is good news for our political system. When more people are directly paying taxes, it will make us even less forgiving of poor execution, infrastructure, or governance. This is a policy that will strengthen our longer-term institutions. Young people should celebrate that.

We need to start taking more measured, calculated business risks that play to our strengths in strong export industries. The property tax can be the nudge we need to get moving.

Kiran Mathur Mohammed is an economist and co-founder of medl, an IDB Lab and Microsoft-backed social impact health tech company. Send feedback to kmmpub@gmail.com. 

https://newsday.co.tt/2021/09/23/proper ... bago-needs

This has to be the most jackass utterance ever made in the entire history of the English language.

So, say I pay 4M for a property, and renting it out for 6K/m, but can't find tenants to occupy it, but I cool with it remaining unoccupied.
But because of increased property taxes, I will lower my rent rate to allow a younger probably more irresponsible person that may eventually not be able to pay my reduced rent in a timely and consistent manner long term, just so I can get some money to pay the increased property tax? Or I go sell it for a loss just to get away from having to pay the property tax? And that is how they plan to stimulate economic growth and movement?


Anyway, in case allyuh didn't know
Politicians and their minions live by a motto, "if yuh can't blind them with brilliance, baffle them with bull$#!t".
Please note, politicians aren't known for their brilliance.

But what's the point he trying to make about people just owning property but not doing anything with it? He trying to say that holding to property for the price to go up and then sell it?

Any right thinking person in this country should not want to pay any tax as long as Rowley is in power and is giving himself the power to do things like go to Australia with Stuart Young and buy two both with no proper Procurement procedure.[/quote]
Caca Colos says that is outmaneuvering the Opposition . He so dotish that he considers that a win, even though his HDC rent will go up, but hey as long as the LFD RFD PNM triggering the UNC, iz okay ent?

[Redman]

Again with your made up tootz Dragon.
Blather on.

[one eye]

Where is the evidence for money laundering and "thiefing" by government officials?

Why are there clean audit outcomes? They should have stumbled upon misuse by now.

If this government is so incompetent, inefficient and unable then UNC are dregs.

In their 5 year term they got busted on a number of corruption practices.

You can trace all that this government has done. If you dispute these facts you are no better than an antivaxxer.

[Dizzy28]

Where is the evidence for money laundering and "thiefing" by government officials?

Why are there clean audit outcomes? They should have stumbled upon misuse by now.

If this government is so incompetent, inefficient and unable then UNC are dregs.

In their 5 year term they got busted on a number of corruption practices.

You can trace all that this government has done. If you dispute these facts you are no better than an antivaxxer.

ROFL!!!!

[88sins]

Where is the evidence for money laundering and "thiefing" by government officials?

Why are there clean audit outcomes? They should have stumbled upon misuse by now.

If this government is so incompetent, inefficient and unable then UNC are dregs.

In their 5 year term they got busted on a number of corruption practices.

You can trace all that this government has done. If you dispute these facts you are no better than an antivaxxer.

another pnm fanatic, why does this not surprise me

[De Dragon]

Again with your made up tootz Dragon.
Blather on.

What's made up arse?
Didn't 7 year degree, children denier, Arse Wari amend the legislation to require a simple majority for passage? You're the the champion LFD RFD PNM when it comes to dotish blind following and hypocrisy

[SuperiorMan]

Really surprised that people just accepting this....no big protesting etc.

[De Dragon]

Really surprised that people just accepting this....no bug protesting etc.

Illegal right now, and Geeyore isn't there to grant permission.

[De Dragon]

Again with your made up tootz Dragon.
Blather on.

What's made up arse?
Didn't 7 year degree, children denier, Arse Wari amend the legislation to require a simple majority for passage? You're the the champion LFD RFD PNM when it comes to dotish blind following and hypocrisy

Even the President was moved from her normal slumber to comment on dotish arse Arse Wari's legislation
Trinidad Express, September 28th 2021
President Paula-Mae Weekes was “immediately concerned” about paragraph 4 of Legal Notice 183 under which Gary Griffith was appointed to act as top cop and communicated this in writing to chairman of the Police Service Commission (PolSC), Bliss Seepersad.
Yet one of the chief LFD RFD PNM ball blower Colos, talking sheit about "outmaneuvering"
Arse Wari couldn't maneuver his way out of a brown bag

[SuperiorMan]

Really surprised that people just accepting this....no bug protesting etc.

Illegal right now, and Geeyore isn't there to grant permission.

True...good time to pass it for them.

[Redman]

Again with your made up tootz Dragon.
Blather on.

What's made up arse?
Didn't 7 year degree, children denier, Arse Wari amend the legislation to require a simple majority for passage? You're the the champion LFD RFD PNM when it comes to dotish blind following and hypocrisy

Even the President was moved from her normal slumber to comment on dotish arse Arse Wari's legislation
Trinidad Express, September 28th 2021
President Paula-Mae Weekes was “immediately concerned” about paragraph 4 of Legal Notice 183 under which Gary Griffith was appointed to act as top cop and communicated this in writing to chairman of the Police Service Commission (PolSC), Bliss Seepersad.
Yet one of the chief LFD RFD PNM ball blower Colos, talking sheit about "outmaneuvering"
Arse Wari couldn't maneuver his way out of a brown bag

Maybe if you quote yourself more someone will take you on.

[De Dragon]

Again with your made up tootz Dragon.
Blather on.

What's made up arse?
Didn't 7 year degree, children denier, Arse Wari amend the legislation to require a simple majority for passage? You're the the champion LFD RFD PNM when it comes to dotish blind following and hypocrisy

Even the President was moved from her normal slumber to comment on dotish arse Arse Wari's legislation
Trinidad Express, September 28th 2021
President Paula-Mae Weekes was “immediately concerned” about paragraph 4 of Legal Notice 183 under which Gary Griffith was appointed to act as top cop and communicated this in writing to chairman of the Police Service Commission (PolSC), Bliss Seepersad.
Yet one of the chief LFD RFD PNM ball blower Colos, talking sheit about "outmaneuvering"
Arse Wari couldn't maneuver his way out of a brown bag

Maybe if you quote yourself more someone will take you on.

Maybe if you climbed out from Arse Wari cacahole, and respond without your usual misplaced smugness, you'd get the credibility you so slavishly crave.

[Redman]

Well when you dealing with something I actually said I will.


Until then blather on.

[De Dragon]

Well when you dealing with something I actually said I will.


Until then blather on.

Well your LFD RFD PNM slavish comment was to the effect that Arse Wari outmaneuvered the Opposition. I presented a counterpoint argument, yet instead of reply, you choose teenage sullenness, flippancy and your usual lies, so try again Colos.

[Habit7]

The "keke keke keke" LFD RFD PNM slaves like him, Tunts7 and Caca Colos who defending it, still cannot say why Impsy 3.75M per unit apartment complex was specifically exempted from property tax. These nimrods too dotish for words

What property tax was exempted Dragon???

But you never answer the man here

[88sins]

Again with your made up tootz Dragon.
Blather on.

What's made up arse?
Didn't 7 year degree, children denier, Arse Wari amend the legislation to require a simple majority for passage? You're the the champion LFD RFD PNM when it comes to dotish blind following and hypocrisy

Even the President was moved from her normal slumber to comment on dotish arse Arse Wari's legislation
Trinidad Express, September 28th 2021
President Paula-Mae Weekes was “immediately concerned” about paragraph 4 of Legal Notice 183 under which Gary Griffith was appointed to act as top cop and communicated this in writing to chairman of the Police Service Commission (PolSC), Bliss Seepersad.
Yet one of the chief LFD RFD PNM ball blower Colos, talking sheit about "outmaneuvering"
Arse Wari couldn't maneuver his way out of a brown bag

not even if it was made of toilet paper & dripping wet

[De Dragon]

The "keke keke keke" LFD RFD PNM slaves like him, Tunts7 and Caca Colos who defending it, still cannot say why Impsy 3.75M per unit apartment complex was specifically exempted from property tax. These nimrods too dotish for words

What property tax was exempted Dragon???

But you never answer the man here

Running interference for you LFD RFD PNM husband I see
Property tax meaning taxes on his POS development, that he's constructing against several T/C regs. btw, for which he brought the Bill to Parliament, specifically to gain said exemptions until 2025, thus ensuring that the development will be sold long before that.

[Redman]

Well when you dealing with something I actually said I will.


Until then blather on.

Well your LFD RFD PNM slavish comment was to the effect that Arse Wari outmaneuvered the Opposition. I presented a counterpoint argument, yet instead of reply, you choose teenage sullenness, flippancy and your usual lies, so try again Colos.

Nope normal misinterpretation on your part.

What I described wass the impossibility of a clause requiring a 3/5ths majority being added to a bill AFTER IT IS PASSED WITH A SIMPLE MAJORITY.

Given the legal luminance available in the party AND in the Law Association, it would be challenged and taken to court,not move through process unchallenged only to be raised here.

I would have asked if what RB and you are saying is that the dumb AG was able to out maneuver your gods in the above way without challenge

The rest entirely your construct.

Blather on

[Redman]

The "keke keke keke" LFD RFD PNM slaves like him, Tunts7 and Caca Colos who defending it, still cannot say why Impsy 3.75M per unit apartment complex was specifically exempted from property tax. These nimrods too dotish for words

What property tax was exempted Dragon???

But you never answer the man here

Running interference for you LFD RFD PNM husband I see
Property tax meaning taxes on his POS development, that he's constructing against several T/C regs. btw, for which he brought the Bill to Parliament, specifically to gain said exemptions until 2025, thus ensuring that the development will be sold long before that.

Lol
You always have a problem with someone doing what you constantly do.

Anyhow

Property tax was suspended by the UNC in 2010
I guess that was specifically for Colm

I believe the multifamily tax shelter was on the books already...they just increased it by 5 %

Every PNM tax reduction in a budget is specifically passed for them.
No one else.

[The_Honourable]

It's Time with Mickela Panday - Ep 1 - Property Tax

The first episode of my video podcast is a discussion on the Property Tax with guests, Former PM Mr. Basdeo Panday and Former MP and Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Prakash Ramadhar.

[88sins]

The "keke keke keke" LFD RFD PNM slaves like him, Tunts7 and Caca Colos who defending it, still cannot say why Impsy 3.75M per unit apartment complex was specifically exempted from property tax. These nimrods too dotish for words

What property tax was exempted Dragon???

But you never answer the man here

Running interference for you LFD RFD PNM husband I see
Property tax meaning taxes on his POS development, that he's constructing against several T/C regs. btw, for which he brought the Bill to Parliament, specifically to gain said exemptions until 2025, thus ensuring that the development will be sold long before that.

Lol
You always have a problem with someone doing what you constantly do.

Anyhow

Property tax was suspended by the UNC in 2010
I guess that was specifically for Colm

I believe the multifamily tax shelter was on the books already...they just increased it by 5 %

Every PNM tax reduction in a budget is specifically passed for them.
No one else.

How often do you see a cobo decline to feast on a rotting carcass simply on the grounds that he didn't kill the animal?

ALL OF THEM, PNM, UNC, NJAC,CoP, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM ARE VULTURES, BUZZARDS, CORBEAUX, CARRION FEEDERS, AND THEY ARE FEEDING AND GETTING FAT OF YOUR SUFFERING CARCASS, AND THEY DON'T CARE THAT OR WHY YOU SUFFERING

do what you want with that

[daring dragoon]

allyuh full out the valuation form or say htmc?

[88sins]

Good question.
What was the last percentage figure that talking skidmark impsbottom say the valuation roll reach?

[Wraith King]

The "keke keke keke" LFD RFD PNM slaves like him, Tunts7 and Caca Colos who defending it, still cannot say why Impsy 3.75M per unit apartment complex was specifically exempted from property tax. These nimrods too dotish for words

What property tax was exempted Dragon???

But you never answer the man here

Running interference for you LFD RFD PNM husband I see
Property tax meaning taxes on his POS development, that he's constructing against several T/C regs. btw, for which he brought the Bill to Parliament, specifically to gain said exemptions until 2025, thus ensuring that the development will be sold long before that.

Lol
You always have a problem with someone doing what you constantly do.

Anyhow

Property tax was suspended by the UNC in 2010
I guess that was specifically for Colm

I believe the multifamily tax shelter was on the books already...they just increased it by 5 %

Every PNM tax reduction in a budget is specifically passed for them.
No one else.

How often do you see a cobo decline to feast on a rotting carcass simply on the grounds that he didn't kill the animal?

ALL OF THEM, PNM, UNC, NJAC,CoP, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM ARE VULTURES, BUZZARDS, CORBEAUX, CARRION FEEDERS, AND THEY ARE FEEDING AND GETTING FAT OF YOUR SUFFERING CARCASS, AND THEY DON'T CARE THAT OR WHY YOU SUFFERING

do what you want with that

You will hurt PNM and UNC supporters feelings. They each believe the party they support better than the next.

[88sins]

I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't really care that much about silly people feelings and emotions.

I stand by my statement.
Hard luck for them.

[zoom rader]

I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't really care that much about silly people feelings and emotions.

I stand by my statement.
Hard luck for them.

X2

[widdyphuck]

If you don't fill out the form is $5000 in yuh tail.
Don't take chain up from no politician. Them ain't paying no fine for you.

[88sins]

If you don't fill out the form is $5000 in yuh tail.
Don't take chain up from no politician. Them ain't paying no fine for you.

Consider the following, then ask yourself two simple questions.
200000 property owners in trinidad
50000 submit the bs return.
150000 refuse and don't.

You really feel that they have the resources to track down and fine 150k people (some of whom may not be in the country)? They had just over 100K ganja cases and realized they eh have the court capacity to pursue them all so instead opted to decriminalize weed, that was actually one of their main reasons.
And even if only 50% of those fined don't pay it, you feel they have the resources to pursue, prosecute and incarcerate everyone?

Anyway, you all run along and submit your documents as your elected masters told you to.