(Trinidad Express) A complete review of the country’s income tax system is on the way.
Finance Minister Winston Dookeran yesterday announced that his ministry will this year review the tax system as it tries to bring greater equality of income to the population.
Dookeran was speaking at the sixth national assembly of the party he founded in 2005, the Congress of the People (COP), at Hillview College, Tunapuna.
Speaking as Acting Prime Minister, a day ahead of the return of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar from India, Dookeran said income equality was one of the cornerstones of economic stability.
He said recent data from the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) has shown this country is still far from achieving this goal.
This will be one of his priorities this year.
“I have already asked my ministry to review the tax system, with a view to bringing us closer to equality of income,” Dookeran said.
By way of thanks from the party, Dookeran was presented with a documentary of his career, up to the time he founded the COP.
After his address, the former leader was feted with pan and was joined by dozens of supporters waving flags and banners, who gathered for an impromptu “ramajay” in the hall of the college.
The assembly also featured as a keynote speaker Khemraj Ramjattan, leader of Guyana political party Alliance For Change.
Ramjattan, speaking on the theme “The Importance of Third Party Politics in the Caribbean”, said the evolution of regional politics, in particular, in countries of ‘tribal’ voting, must begin with the way a voter’s rights are viewed.
