Debate on the Foreign Account Taxpayer Compliance Act (FATCA) will resume after the Budget debate is completed and a Joint Select Committee is established in the usual manner to consider the bill in detail, says Finance Minister Colm Imbert.
He confirmed this after Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar accused Government of acting in bad faith by "closing "the first session of Parliament on Wednesday without honouring public commitments on the bill.
She said they failed to agree to an Opposition proposal for establishment of a Joint Select Committee (JSC) to consider amendments to the legislation.
"On the floor of the Parliament on Wednesday there was no mention of this agreement, as debate on the Bill resumed.
"The Parliament was then abruptly adjourned sine die, meaning that unless there are urgent and unforeseen circumstances, the first session of the 11th Parliament has come to an end," she said
The first session prorogues September 22. Persad-Bissessar said she had stressed that the Opposition appreciated the importance of the legislation and T&T's nternational obligations concerning FATCA and had pledged to vote for it passage but had raised specific concerns.
Contacted for comment, Imbert said: "It appears that the Opposition Leader isn't listening to us. FATCA legislation requires a three fifth majority to be passed, or 26 votes. It therefore requires Opposition support, otherwise it cannot be passed. All 23 PNM MPs are ready to vote, but we need at least three UNC MPs to vote for it.
"We made it clear on Monday after the meeting with the Opposition on the Bill that since the Opposition had demanded establishment of a JSC before it would even begin to look at provisions of the legislation, this wasn't a matter to be rushed through hastily. The Opposition refused on Monday to consider or discuss any aspect of the Bill, or vote for it, until and unless we agreed to establish a JSC.
"We said on that since the Opposition had refused to tell us what amendments they required to the legislation to make it more acceptable to them, Government would seek an extension of time from the US Treasury to comply with FATCA, so a JSC could be properly established shortly after the 2017 budget debate is completed, and do its work without undue pressure."