by Man from Baker Hill
I care more about the fairness of our Tax Laws than I care about our Constitution.
I will not whisper. I will share my thoughts with my fellowmen, not in secret but as loud as I am allowed to shout. I believe in taxation. I believe that tax on income should be paid by or on behalf of every resident of Montserrat.
It is our tax laws that will reflect the maturity of our nation. It is our tax laws that will provide the money to educate and protect our citizens. On the other hand our constitution literally becomes dormant almost immediately after it is implemented. It becomes a document only for the schools to study and analyse. It may be another 100 years before someone is taken to the courts for breach of rights under the constitution. Yet our system of tax laws as given to us by Britain will continue to affect each of us, every hour, every day. And, take heed, from the 1st day of January 2012 our MCAP government will take Montserratians to court sending some to jail for breach of our Tax Laws.
I must applaud the MCAP government for taking the sting out of the words TAX, taxation and tax arrears. Through its bold tax forgiveness policy the MCAP regime has set the stage for a type of tax revolution on Montserrat, which every other Caribbean nation should emulate. I sincerely hope that the Tax Negotiator took very special effort to educate each tax payer he interviewed. Taxation in Montserrat shall not be the same again. The new tax awareness of Montserratians will be MCAP’s greatest legacy.
The issue of tax forgiveness has been a cry of The Montserrat Reporter for years. In the year 2000 it carried almost an article a month on taxation; tax arrears and tax forgiveness were the buzz words of those articles. In fact, Governor Abbot in his final interview at ZJB, highly commended The Montserrat Reporter for the articles on taxation. I know the editor would welcome any initiative of the MCAP government to use the newspaper (both online and in print) to follow up on the good will of the tax forgiveness program.
The Constitution! What is it? How big it makes our people? Will it give them more salaries? Will it cause us to pay fewer taxes? Are we a matured nation, even with a sophisticated Constitution?
Twenty (20) years of Constitution confusion over the powers of the Governor and we are still begging here and there for money to pay our civil servants salaries. Ten years of constitution education and we still beg for other peoples tax dollars to build our roads and our schools. Two years of Constitution debate and we do not know who owns the sand or the land or who should own geothermal or even how to advance the Little Bay Town development. My God, please put an end to this madness called Constitution talks.
If we sum up the energy we expended talking about the constitution and use just one percent of that energy on proper tax education; we will revolutionize Montserrat. No more tax right offs! Every tax payer could pay less; and yet the nation will collect more taxes. Incite our people with love and understanding for taxation. Teach about royalties and its effect on sand mining and geothermal. Teach about leasehold arrangements and value added to land at Little Bay for the purpose of property taxes.
Montserrat must never be the same again with respect to compliance for our system of tax laws. One year of the tax negotiating and tax forgiveness should be more than enough to herald in a high degree of tax reform. The people are ready for a new and fair system of tax laws. They are excited. Get with the program Reuben the Premier. Seize the moment, you cannot stop now.
Introduce Estate Tax! What is it? The tax education process will tell us. I suggest and highly recommend that government introduce Estate tax before next budget day and back date to the year January 2010.
I believe in estate tax and I believe that tax on income should be paid from the cradle to the grave. I believe that every wealthy resident of Montserrat owes his wealth to the stability, safety and the protection of the laws and people of Montserrat.
When it comes to taxation, I owe my best thoughts to Montserrat. I cannot agree to keep silent. I shout for ESTATE TAX.
After tax negotiation there must be tax education. We must create greater understanding of our system of tax laws; because what the fool cannot understand he laughs at… believing that by his laughter he shows superiority instead of latent idiocy. We must never go back to tax ignorance. We must never have tax forgiveness again, no never. Tax forgiveness hurts good citizens.
And if the rumours are true, if our two deceased icons left $200 million in their estate, then the people of Montserrat must get their fair share. After all, did our icons live in space? Did their wealth arrive on flying saucers? No, they achieved their wealth through the support of the Montserrat people and its environs. And we the people can only get our fair share through taxation. Pass the law for ESTATE TAX now; death tax some call it.
I know that this article will cause hearts to shudder and heads to frown. But beware; uneasy is the head that wears a frown and danger awaits the man whose heart shudders. Estate Tax must be the cornerstone of any tax education on Montserrat. Estate tax tomorrow and forever! Bring it on Reuben the Premier. Re-employ the Tax Negotiator, make him the Tax Educator for this worthy education exercise!
