SARA Bill Goes to the House as Government Pushes Tax Reform

The Briceño administration is pressing ahead with plans to create a semi-autonomous revenue authority, known as SARA. Today in the National Assembly, Prime Minister John Briceño introduced the Revenue Authority Bill, describing it as another major step in modernizing Belize’s tax administration system. According to the prime minister, government did not arrive at this bill on its own. Earlier this year, a review committee was formed with representatives from the Public Service Union, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize and the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. That committee, he says, helped examine the draft legislation that has now made its way before the House.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“We realize that changing established public service arrangements create legitimate concerns for officers and their representatives. These concerns were given due attention and taken seriously. The transition must be treated with respect and consultations. With this in mind, this bill gives public officers clear options. They could retire. They could apply to the authority or continue placement in the public service. It also preserves accrued pension and retirement benefits. The purpose is not to diminish earn rights, but to build and obtain the special capacity Belize needs, while treating every officer fairly. And before anyone tries to be reckless, let me state, this bill does not increase taxes. It will not place a heavier burden on businesses and citizens already meeting their obligations. This bill seeks to make administration, fairer, faster, more consistent, more effective and more efficient.”

 

SARA Proposal Puts Belize Tax Service Workers at a Crossroads

 

For employees at the Belize Tax Service, the proposed revenue authority could mean more than institutional reform. It could mean making a major career decision. Workers will have the option to remain with the new authority, move elsewhere in the public service, or retire, all while retaining their accrued benefits. But while Prime Minister John Briceño says the change is necessary to modernize tax administration, his comments about the need for specialized skills raise another question: is government casting doubt on the abilities of the very employees who have been running the tax system? Briceño says the new authority will recruit based on merit and qualification.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Of course, Mister Speaker, modern systems alone cannot deliver the results. They must be supported by skilled people operating within a human resource framework for the specialized work of the revenue administration. At present, the Belize Tax Services Department faces recruitment delays, limited ability to deploy specialized skills, difficulty in retaining tax and IT professionals and an appraisal system that is not tailored to specialized result driven work. The central purpose of this bill is to create a human resources framework built on clear qualifications, merit based recruitment, staff development and fair performance standards and accountability. Now, let me be clear, this is in no way a criticism of our public service institution or our public service officers, rather it recognizes that revenue administration have particular skills that they need, as to other specialized public bodies such as Central Bank of Belize and the Judiciary.”

 

PM Briceño says the Revenue Authority will be led by a qualified chief executive officer and a seven-member advisory board.

 

Consultations Continue as Concerns Persist Over SARA Transition

 

Tax Service employees want answers as government moves to create SARA. Today, workers met to review the proposed law, raise concerns, and discuss their role in the transition. PSU President Dean Flowers says frontline officers must be heard before the reform moves ahead.

 

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“There’s a sense of pride in the union at this point in time Because, the turnout today is a demonstration of a group of public officers who understand that the public service needs to be shaped by public officers. The people who are responsible for the delivery of public service must be part and parcel of the decision-making processes in public service or it’s not going to work. And so what we have here today is a group of public officers who understand the critical role that they play in shaping policy decisions. And so today we hope that the feedback that we will get from them will help to give us a position in shaping what will be SARA. You cannot leave public service to po-lie-ticians in this day and age because what we will get is more and more of what we already knew existed, but now what is being demonstrated, demonstrated publicly through the Mira Millions. So, today’s meeting is to shape that, shape the legislation and to ultimately influence what will be SARA come October or whenever it is that the government satisfies the re- the, the demands of the public officers who will be responsible to roll out that system.”

 

Flowers says the union wants government to clearly explain why SARA is needed and fully assess the financial and operational impact before moving ahead.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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