The Georgetown Mayor & City Council (M&CC) on Monday passed an ‘Institutional Rate Policy’ seeking to exempt political parties from paying rates and taxes, or reducing those sums.
According to the document seen by this publication, the council led by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is looking to affix this benefit to any property titled to the political party once that party has been in existence for two or more years.
According to People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) councillor Don Singh, this provision will only benefit the APNU which owes billions in rates and taxes. He said the policy is “hastily put together without any justification” as he questioned “why reducing political parties [taxes] when you running others down for rates and taxes?”
Singh believes that this move is a direct result of the government’s discontinuation of the amnesty period this year. The amnesty period implemented previously, allowed businesses to pay their taxes without the accompanying interests for late payments.
The document has classified political parties in existence for more than ten years as “social and welfare institutions,” allowing them to be exempted from paying rates and taxes or at least reclassifying those rates to “institutional rates” under the Municipal and District Council’s Act.
Notably, the Municipal and District Council Act, section 214 states that: A council shall have power to exempt from liability to pay rates either wholly or in part…[for] any property used for the advancement of religion, education or social welfare, not with a view to profit.
The law also covers facility used for sports or healthy institutions while leaving the power to the Minister of Local Government to designate any other property for exemption.
During his weekly programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday evening, Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall criticised the council’s move.
“I have not seen in recent times a more vulgar and shameless act,” he said, noting that the council is already cash-strapped and should therefore seek to collect all outstanding debts.
“The Georgetown Mayor & City Council (M&CC) cannot even afford to pick up the garbage from the residents of Georgetown without a subvention from the government, they cannot repair their home which is the City Hall without a subvention from the government, they cannot discharge most of their duties without a subvention,” he decried.
Furthermore, Nandlall said the reduction or exemption of rates and taxes should be directed to the less fortunate instead of political parties.
“They are not interested in reducing rates and taxes for poor people…whose cause they claim to champion but they want to reduce rates and taxes for political parties,” he said.
Nandlall said the move by the M&CC is the opposite of promoting transparency and accountability.
In fact, he contended that “obviously the PNC and the AFC owe rates and taxes that they cannot afford to pay and they get their acolytes at City Hall to move a motion to write off their indebtedness.”
“…and these people are seriously contesting to be the next government of this country and these people are talking about accountability and transparency and they’re getting their acolytes on there to write off their rates and taxes.”
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has revealed that Congress Place alone owes some $6.7 billion in taxes.
Editor's Note: This article previously stated that the APNU/PNC owed some $250 million in taxes but it has since been updated to reflect a more accurate figure, which is $6.7 billion.
