Economist Dr Ronald Ramkissoon is urging business owners to pay their taxes and assist the state in the running of the country and paying its bills."We do not have a perfectly free market economy in T&T but we have come a long way from where we were in the 1960s and 1970s," he said.
"While businesses and consumers should do what they have to do, they should pay the VAT man the money. They should not cheat the taxman because that is cheating the ability to pay teachers and nurses. The reality is that we need a strong VAT office," he said yesterday in the keynote address to a breakfast meeting hosted by the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Commerce at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya.
His comments followed a statement by Tunapuna MP Esmond Forde who also spoke at the seminar. Forde, quoting Minister of Finance Colm Imbert, said the VAT office only collects 40 per cent of what it should be collecting.
"The Minister of Finance said as a result of the new measures being put in place that he wants to ensure full compliance of close to 100 per cent. However, New Zealand collects 80 per cent of their VAT remittance," Forde said.
Ramkissoon described said the current economic period was one of the most trying times in the country's history. He referred complaints from the general public that prices are not reflective of the recent changes in VAT.
"However, if there is any truth to these allegations, in such cases consumers are disadvantaged, which is not only bad for the consumer but also for other legitimate businesses that might wish to enter the market," he said.
Dr Ramkissoon said if businesses are to contribute to T&T getting out of the recession they should not be involved in anti competitive and other unfair business practices.
"These include price rigging, price fixing and new and legitimate businesses must not be prevented from entering the market," he said. "These are all inconsistent with a market economy. Lower VAT must be passed on to the consumers."
