PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – The Members of Parliament, Wescot-Williams, Gumbs and Buncamper have submitted a request for a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on the topic of Tax Reform. In motivating their request aforementioned Members refer to the attempts at reform by the Government over the years, “without any noteworthy progress”.
The Members of Parliament in their request also gave an overview of the motions and other correspondence relating to tax reform, presented to Parliament by members and by the Government.
Successive Ministers have presented elaborate plans, however due to various reasons, none of these have materialized or even undertaken. Yet, for the past decade or so, the need to reform our tax system has been constantly highlighted, along with other measures to give our economy a much-needed boost.
It is high time we take a holistic and inclusive approach to the issue of tax reform, rather than the piece meal approach that we have often seen.
While successive Government programs continue to highlight tax reform as a necessary part of the larger economic reform, action in this regard has been lagging.
“The meeting request was made on March 5th, 2020 but has not yet been scheduled. However, given the potential dramatic consequences for our economy due to the Corona pandemic, this discussion on tax reform must now be part of the urgent broader discussion on an economic plan to save our economy and the livelihood of our people from a total collapse. Public and private sectors must come together to address mitigating measures urgently”, MP Wescot commented.
