By Sue-Ann Wayow

PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar is promising to axe the tax on senior citizens who have been paying a pension for their lives’ work.

She said on Monday night, it was unfair to persons who worked all their lives, paying taxes and dues and then they continued to be taxed in their senior years.

Speaking at a United National Congress (UNC) Monday night report in Penal, Persad-Bissessar promised to put policy in place to remove the pension tax from persons over the age of 60.

“I believe that once a person reaches age 60, and has been contributing to the pension system for decades, they should no longer be taxed on their retirement benefits,” she said.

The prime minister said the ongoing tax lessened the pension value and can feel like “double taxation.”

She said, “These taxes strain the finances of seniors especially those living on fixed limited incomes and can be a significant source of frustration.”

Persad-Bissessar promised, “My government will review and amend the tax laws regarding pensions to reflect fairness and recognition of life long contributions made by persons.”

Such a move would be a fair policy adjustment, she said also stating that senior citizens would be socially supported.

Also on the topic of taxation, Persad-Bissessar said there will be an overhauling of the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) instead of the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Act (TTRA), a Bill which was repealed in Parliament.

“We have to recalibrate our society so that there is a fair system of taxation. Over taxation of our population must stop and the only way to achieve this is to recalibrate the Board of Inland Revenue to enable taxation across the board fairly,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar said, “We are working to modernise the BIR into a digitally powered service oriented and accountable institution which enhances voluntary tax compliance, strengthen revenue collection, supporting the socioeconomic development of Trinidad and Tobago.”

She lamented about the situation at the BIR saying, it was understaffed with only 36 per cent of the required staff employed.

Persad-Bissessar announced that procurement will commence for a full Gentax system upgrade as the BIR was starved not only of human resource, finances but of technology as well.

GenTax stands out as the most widely adopted solution in modern tax processing, with over 60 tax and revenue agencies using the software worldwide.

There was a Cabinet note awaiting comments from the attorney general which should ensure better accountability from the BIR.

Persad-Bissessar announced that before the government’s first budget in September or October, there will be pre budget consultations and she invited everyone to attend and give an input.

She promised to fix the institutions and situations that she said were in shambles when her government officially took office in May, following the April 28 general election.

And Persad-Bissessar also promised to have more Monday night reports, similar to those on the campaign trail, to report to the country, the government’s progress in serving the people of Trinidad and Tobago.