PSU Urges Tax Workers to “Stand Ready”

The Public Service Union (PSU) is calling on members of the Belize Tax Service Department to prepare for possible action if the Revenue Authority Bill, 2026 passes the House in its current form, accusing government of shutting the union out of the process meant to shape the legislation.

In a release issued Thursday, the PSU said the Project Steering Committee overseeing the BTSD’s transition into a Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authority never properly considered the union’s input before the Bill moved forward. At the Committee’s first meeting in May, the Bill was presented only as a PowerPoint, and BTSD’s own Legal Counsel couldn’t answer questions about it since she hadn’t drafted it herself.

The PSU says it submitted comments on the Committee’s Terms of Reference in May, on time, but the Financial Secretary took over a month to respond, and a promised follow-up meeting still hasn’t happened months later. When the union tried to schedule its own meeting with BTSD staff in July to gather input, the Financial Secretary blocked it. A proposed alternate date drew no response at all, so the PSU held the meeting anyway without official permission, then submitted staff concerns in a formal report the Financial Secretary confirmed receiving on August 10th.

According to the PSU, that submission was never presented to the Finance and Economic Development Committee when it met to consider the Bill on August 12th, an omission the union calls disingenuous given how thin the Committee’s own consultation process had been.

The PSU is calling on the House to send the Bill back to committee and says it will send its comments directly to the Senate as well, describing the legislation in its current form as dangerous to Belize.

The union closed with a direct message to BTSD members, urging them to stay close and be ready to act if the Bill passes.

“To every member of the Belize Tax Service Department: this fight is not over, and it is not yours to face alone. We ask every member to ready themselves for whatever action becomes necessary should this Bill be passed in the Lower House.”