Revenue Bill Debate Turns Personal for Tax Workers

A debate over revenue reform has now turned into a question of respect for the workers already doing the job. Some employees at the Belize Tax Service are reportedly upset over comments Prime Minister John Briceño made while speaking on the Revenue Authority Bill. He argued that the proposed semi-autonomous revenue authority would need specialized skills that can be better sourced under a statutory body structure. But did that statement undermine the qualifications of current BTS staff? The Prime Minister says absolutely not.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Absolutely not. That is why I made the point that it requires specialized skills and when you leaver it the way it is, the Belize Tax Service under the public service regulation, just to drive home the point, they could literally end you anybody when they do transfers. But when you transition to a semi-autonomous authority, they have a better chance to manage their staff, a better chance of hiring people that meet that standard, because it is a specialized skill when it comes to issue of tax, not only collection but also ensuring that businesses and reasons are not only trying to evade taxes, but also when they make a mistake that they can come back on their feet. So no, it is contrary. It is because it is a specialized, just like the Belize Central Bank, Port Authority, where you need these specialized skills. That is why we have them as an authority.”

 

PSU Says Tax Service Morale at All-Time Low

 

The debate over the proposed Revenue Authority Bill is not only about jobs. Public Service Union President Dean Flowers says there are bigger questions that government must answer, including who the legislation is really designed to protect. Flowers is also asking whether any study has been done to measure how taxpayers feel about the current Belize Tax Service. He argues that morale inside the department is at an all-time low, despite millions of dollars already being spent to improve tax collection.

 

Dean Flowers,  President, Public Service Union

“People power, our recommendations have always been taken into consideration and I can tell you that people and family livelihoods are on the line. The legislation as it is drafted protects a single individual, the Chief Executive Officer. That is the sole individual who can be a public officer and still work on a  contract, a five year term in the soon to be SARA. I don’t  know that our intent from the get go was to stop SARA. It was to get a sense of what you want to achieve from this, what recommendations are you following, what got us here? The Belizean people have invested almost thirty million dollars and still have not gotten the tax services department that you envisioned when you amalgamated the Income Tax and GST Department, as a matter of fact staff moral is worst than when it was under those two department. there is no study to show what is tax payers satisfaction having spent thirty million dollars of tax payer’s money which we are now paying back. Now we want to increase the overhead expense of a department which will grow almost one and a half time its size. Where will that money come from.”

 

The Revenue Authority Bill now goes to the Senate for debate. We will continue to follow its development.

 

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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