This budget offers a lot

Nov 29, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Government and Finance Minister Winston Jordan were last year roasted for introducing dozens of new taxes in the 2017 budget. These ranged from one on private education to a tax on miners.
A significant amount of rage was pointed to the Minister but from all appearances this time around, the 2018 edition might be the first indication of measures aimed at simply winning votes. After all it is mid-term and local government elections are scheduled for the coming year.
After much picketing and lobbying, the education services tax has been lifted and cabinet has also seen it fit to reduce the tributors tax by 10 percent. The mining community has already signaled that it is happy with the reduction.
Despite what the cabinet and the Coalition might wish to say, the 2018 budget is clearly intended to win hearts and minds. For instance, delinquent taxpayers will benefit from an amnesty both for not filing any taxes at all, or by fudging the figures to pay less to the state.
Again this is an olive branch to voters, designed to bring in billions of dollars in additional revenues and to change the view, of maybe too many Guyanese, that government was simply hell bent piling on too many taxes, rules and regulations on them.
There are numerous other goodies that could be mentioned from the budget. The PPP might find it much harder this year to hurl criticism at this document than last year as there are so many points to which parliamentarians and government supporters can point to and defend. Even the private sector bodies immediately after the budget reading signaled their approval.
But as I often tell my friends over a vodka or two, Government is doing a horrible job in creating opportunities for youth in keeping with promised prior to 2015. This has to be addressed or the coalition might well pay dearly for this in 2020, oil or no oil.
Good job on the 2018 budget Coalition government!
Peter Joseph
Nazeema Mohamed
Roy Mason
Patriotic Guyanese

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