Property Tax in Trinidad & Tobago

[hover11]

Not understanding how trinis rushing to pay a tax when Businesses who using the same facilities like road garbage disposals ect not paying a cent.

because that's the law set by the people who we collectively put in power.

Slavery was once the law

And then it was abolished.
I don't get your point.

It's currently the law, and the last grap who coulda/woulda/shoulda abolish it didn't.
So we all have that lovely carille juice to drink, and I don't want it either - but the old adage about death and taxes holds true.

So if you was living in slavery times you would have said slavery is the law so let me get some slaves?

We have a right to resist unjust laws.

If no one had submitted forms there would be no property tax right now

Across the world people have demonstrated their strength and gotten laws changed

We in Trinidad are basically sheep who stand for nothing and resist nothing

The problem lies where we are a laid back society that just allows the ones who reign in power to sit on their laurels. We don't oppose anything. There is no solid justification as to the reason why the business / commercial properties were excluded. It creates the perception that the average citizen is lesser and has no voice in this country

[VexXx Dogg]

I don’t think you’re picking up what I’m putting down.

It was never the intent of any government to abolish that cursed flabbergastery.

So the option you’re proposing is civil unrest? Riot?

[PariaMan]

All it would have taken is for everyone to have refused to send in forms

Imbert said if they had not gotten a certain amount of forms, they could not go forward.

Instead, the sheep among us who are easily frightened rushed to obey and placed the yoke upon their own shoulders.

[paid_influencer]

people always have the option of voting for kamla and she will axe the tax

[zoom rader]

people always have the option of voting for kamla and she will axe the tax

Yeah,

But Trinidad is a stupid country

[paid_influencer]

[VexXx Dogg]

people always have the option of voting for kamla and she will axe the tax

why didn't she do it the last time?

It was posted before, but I'll post it again.

https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2. ... dfcd05583#

No getting away from property tax
On Monday, the other shoe fell on the long-discussed issue of property tax. Minister of Finance Larry Howai announced in his budget presentation that land and building taxes would return.In the first phase, set for implementation by July 1, 2014, taxes will come due on industrial lands and buildings; then taxes on commercial properties will be assessed and levied; and in Phase 3–the most delicate sector–taxes on agricultural lands and residential properties will be assessed and applied.

As the Finance Minister noted, "A land and building tax regime is a key pillar in all modern tax systems," but in all successful implementations of such taxation systems, the methods of assessment and valuation are clearly understood by everyone.Clouding this rather straightforward matter is the business of politics and in particular, the heated campaign to "axe the tax" which was waged when the PNM Government sought to overhaul the existing process.

Clearly, it was a system which was in need of overhaul, with taxes being levied on buildings that bore no relationship to their current market value.But through the exigencies of political posturing, what happened was neither an orderly and sensible revision of the land and building tax regimen nor a continuation of the prior, wholly inadequate system.Instead, the tax was frozen in 2010, costing the government millions in revenue that it needs to support increasingly costly budget spending.

So Larry Howai was PNM?
Allah stay there and feel ANYBODY removing that sure cash cow.
Kamla well clap for Howai budget presentation.


Sure, they proposed a flipped approach with industrial first, residential last - but it is and always was inevitable.

[paid_influencer]

the tax isn't inevitable. that is panty man talk

[VexXx Dogg]

the tax isn't inevitable. that is panty man talk

A predictable response from someone who sincerely believes promises from local politicians.
A mighty fine good evening to you, sir.

[PariaMan]

My problem is exactly that.

I am not against the tax but it should never be residential first

That's why we should have resisted this implementation by this PNM government

[st7]

the tax isn't inevitable. that is panty man talk

A predictable response from someone who sincerely believes promises from local politicians.
A mighty fine good evening to you, sir.

[Rayden6]

what's up with the clause where they could seize
Q:What happens if I don’t pay the Property Tax?

There are a number of options available to the Board of Inland Revenue, for example: Penalty and Interest accrues as outlined in question 5.

Any annual tax due together with any penalty and interest (stated above) which may have accrued, until paid, will be a charge on the land in respect of which the annual tax is due and payable.
The board is entitled to take legal action to recover the taxes owed, by action in any Court. The Board is also entitled to seize any moveable goods and possession.

[Rayden6]

what is deemed movable goods and Possessions?

[adnj]

what is deemed movable goods and Possessions?

Any possessions or instruments that are in or around the property but not permanently affixed. The government seizes items or assets owned by the person or entity that owes taxes. The government then sells the seized items to pay the delinquent taxes.

[fokhan_96]

what is deemed movable goods and Possessions?

Any possessions or instruments that are in or around the property but not permanently affixed. The government seizes items or assets owned by the person or entity that owes taxes. The government then sells the seized items to pay the delinquent taxes.

Why not just kick out the owners and seize and sell the house and land. That would make more sense.

[zoom rader]

Men complaining of paying house taxes

You have chance to fix this in 2025


Use ur vote wisely & kick PNM out

[The_Honourable]

Online options coming soon to pay Property Tax says Min. in the Ministry of Finance Brian Manning. He said there are approx. 400 thousand eligible residential properties of which 173,000 valuation notices have been issued so far.

[shake d livin wake d dead]

Not understanding how trinis rushing to pay a tax when Businesses who using the same facilities like road garbage disposals ect not paying a cent.

Doh bawl... Yuh vote for it

[Dave]

Not understanding how trinis rushing to pay a tax when Businesses who using the same facilities like road garbage disposals ect not paying a cent.

Doh bawl... Yuh vote for it

And who destroys the roads more....the truck which equates to businesses.
Who uses more infrastructure?
Where would the lion share of the property tax come from?
But who would spiral inflation quicker?

Property once used for its purpose is a good thing but levied equally and evenly is the key.

[zoom rader]

Not understanding how trinis rushing to pay a tax when Businesses who using the same facilities like road garbage disposals ect not paying a cent.

Doh bawl... Yuh vote for it

Yes Stupid country

[bluefete]

what is deemed movable goods and Possessions?

Yuh wife, chirrren, mudder, tantie, uncle- anything dat not bolted down, nah.

[bluefete]

Men complaining of paying house taxes

You have chance to fix this in 2025


Use ur vote wisely & kick PNM out

Tantie Kams ent changing nutten though.

[zoom rader]

Men complaining of paying house taxes

You have chance to fix this in 2025


Use ur vote wisely & kick PNM out

Tantie Kams ent changing nutten though.

Well u sit and take bull.


Its people with ur negative mindset have Trinidad as a śĥìțhole.

Best u vote pnm,

[bluefete]

Men complaining of paying house taxes

You have chance to fix this in 2025


Use ur vote wisely & kick PNM out

Tantie Kams ent changing nutten though.

Well u sit and take bull.


Its people with ur negative mindset have Trinidad as a śĥìțhole.

Best u vote pnm,

Once Tantie Kams realizes how much money coming in, for her whole cabal to pilfer, she leaving property tax right dey.

PNM make track for UNC to run.

[pugboy]

today news say manning say if yuh didn’t receive assessment you don’t have to pay

this nonsense about having to line up to find out how much have to pay didn’t make sense

[88sins]

Men complaining of paying house taxes

You have chance to fix this in 2025


Use ur vote wisely & kick PNM out

Tantie Kams ent changing nutten though.

Correct
Lest we forget
She had 5 years to abolish property taxes, and opted to plant both her hands up her arse and bottle after bottle of puncheon in she mouth for the duration instead, while anand ramgoat and the loudmouth bald idiot aka Mr 2 pull among others do all kinda kaka.

Whole political landscape need to wash and soak in a gramoxone/lanate/glyphosate/termidor cocktail and starting over, from all sides, top to bottom, left to right, inside out.

[zoom rader]

Men complaining of paying house taxes

You have chance to fix this in 2025


Use ur vote wisely & kick PNM out

Tantie Kams ent changing nutten though.

Correct
Lest we forget
She had 5 years to abolish property taxes, and opted to plant both her hands up her arse and bottle after bottle of puncheon in she mouth for the duration instead, while anand ramgoat and the loudmouth bald idiot aka Mr 2 pull among others do all kinda kaka.

Whole political landscape need to wash and soak in a gramoxone/lanate/glyphosate/termidor cocktail and starting over, from all sides, top to bottom, left to right, inside out.

She did more for Africans than any other party

[PariaMan]

She was hgonna implement the correct way starting with industrial and commercial first

Showing care for the small man

[The_Honourable]

All these years and they still can't figure it out...



Imbert: New ways to pay property tax in the works

FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert says solutions are being worked on to address the challenges people are experiencing in paying their residential property tax by September 30.

Imbert was responding to questions from independent senators Dr Paul Richards and Sunity Maharaj in the Senate on September 17.

Richards asked whether additional payment options and physical locations were being explored to alleviate the long waits and queues people encounter when they go to pay their tax.

Imbert said, "In terms of locations, there will be no additional locations before the 30th of September."

Payments are currently made at district revenue offices throughout the country.

But he added, "Efforts are being made to expand the capacity of existing locations."

He said providing additional payment options for property tax is complex.

Property tax, he explained, is revenue, "So unlike your water bill, your electricity bill...which we are all accustomed to paying online...when the payment is remitted to the relevant statutory authority, the financial institution deducts an appropriate percentage as a service charge tor facilitating a transaction."

Under the Audit and Exchequer Act, he said, revenue must be sent in whole.

"There can be no deduction of a service charge."

Imbert told senators a possible solution being explored is to have the commercial banks act as revenue collectors.

"Someone could make an online payment. The banks will collect those payments of property tax, record them appropriately. identify who paid for what, when and so on and then remit the amount paid in full to Treasury to go into the Consolidated Fund for it to be recorded as revenue."

The banks would then send a bill to the Finance Ministry "for the service charge, so that the payment of revenue will always be 100 per cent. There will be no deduction from it."

Imbert said another challenge is that systems must be in place "to ensure that the payment of the property tax is properly recorded as revenue."

He recalled the source of the problem between the Auditor General, the Central Bank and the ministry is a question of accurate recording of revenue.

He was referring to a $2.6 billion understatement in revenue in the 2023 public financial statements to Parliament. Disagreements between the ministry and the Auditor General over this have led to court matters.

He said, "So what I would not want to happen is a situation where people make their property tax payments online and it is not properly recorded as revenue in the Consolidated Fund.

"Then you will get another report from the Auditor General that will start another set of confusion and bacchanal."

Imbert told senators a solution was imminent.

Richards acknowledged the solution Imbert outlined could involve in-person and online elements which involved commercial banks. He asked for a timeline for implementation of the latter.

Imbert said, "The process that we are working on, it will be an online process. It will be virtually identical to the online payment by bank transfer of your utility bills.

"So those persons who have the facility to use their bank account to make a bank transfer, as is now done with WASA and T&TEC and so on, will be able to do that. That's the process."

Before coming to the Senate, Imbert continued, he spoke with the technocrats who are working on the solution to make sure it is properly recorded.

He repeated that two things must happen.

"When the person pays the tax, they must get a receipt from the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) to confirm that they have paid the tax, because if you don't get that, you can end up in an argument, and then there could be even more confusion with respect to penalties and interest."

The second thing to be addressed is a proper recording of revenue in the Consolidated Fund.

He repeated, "We are almost at the end of a solution that will deal with both (issues), so that when you pay online, automatically within a minute or two, you will get a receipt confirming you have paid this tax."

Imbert said this receipt can then be presented to BIR to confirm payment of property tax. Should there be a query, this can be addressed and the payment will be properly recorded as revenue in the Consolidated Fund.

Imbert said additional solutions for the payment of the tax, using credit and debit cards online, are being explored.

Richards asked if in light of these challenges, the deadline for the payment of property tax would be extended.

He estimated there are 400,000 eligible residential properties to be taxed and approximately 175,000 valuation notices were issued by the ministry.

Imbert told Richards that Opposition Senator Wade Mark had filed a question to him on an extension of the deadline.

"I don't want to get between you and Wade Mark. So let's wait for him to ask that question."

Maharaj asked whether the deadline applied to homeowners who have not yet received their notice of property-tax assessment.

Imbert said he received a legal opinion from the BIR and the Treasury Solicitor's department in his ministry on this issue.

Reading the information from his phone, he said, "If the failure to pay the tax did not result from the fault of the taxpayer, then the person is not liable to penalties or interest."

Maharaj asked Imbert for a simplified answer for people who may not be legally knowledgeable.

He reminded senators that the rate of property tax had been reduced from three to two per cent, so anyone receiving an assessment based on the three per cent value has received an invalid assessment.

He added that in cases where the BIR has been unable to deliver a tax assessment notice to a taxpayer, "Then the taxpayer is not at fault."

In these circumstances, homeowners will not be subject to penalties or interest for non-payment of the tax.

Mark did not have a chance to ask his question, as Senate President Nigel de Freitas said the time for urgent questions had expired.

https://newsday.co.tt/2024/09/17/imbert ... the-works/

[shake d livin wake d dead]

She was hgonna implement the correct way starting with industrial and commercial first

Showing care for the small man

Commercial people would have just passed on that cost to the consumers.... Shrugs shoulders