Dominica introduces value added tax
by Paul Charles
Caribbean Net News Dominica Correspondent
Friday, September 2, 2005
ROSEAU, Dominica: Dominica’s parliament on
Monday evening enacted its first-ever Value Added Tax (VAT) system amid muted
response from the Opposition to Government MPs’ “aye”.
In what has been described by observers as an anti-climax to contrasting views
on the VAT, the parliamentary opposition United Workers Party (UWP) did not
challenge the Government side when a vote was called.
The one-day debate on the new tax system pitted Government MPs with Opposition
MPs who strongly differed on the possible effect it will have on the nation’s
low-income class. In a post debate comment,
Attorney General Ian Douglas said VAT was more equitable than the current
taxation system.
“I think it’s the way to go it’s a more
efficient system of taxation who had a broader tax net with more persons
contributing to the tax burden,” the state’s legal adviser said.
For Opposition Leader Edison James, his main contentious point was that the
government had left the VAT on local agricultural commodities in “limbo”.
“The fact that we have not settled on the
way we treat locally produced agricultural commodities is of concern,” the
former Prime Minister and farmer said. The
VAT system, which will replace the consumption tax (20% at its maximum) and
the sales tax (7.5%), is scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2006.
The meeting of parliament continues on
Tuesday morning with a debate on an Excise Act followed by appointments of the
privileges committee, the public accounts committee and the standing orders
committee.
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