'Don't tamper with Property Taxes! - Opp Leader Hon Julian Fraser
Honourable Fraser was speaking during the commencement of the budget debates in the House of Assembly during the Seventh Sitting of the First Session of the Third House of Assembly on March 24, 2016.
He was basing his arguments on proposed changes to the payroll tax and the possibility also for changes to property taxes.
He said the territory has a zero percent payroll tax base right now up to the first $10,000 after which the taxes kick in.
“If you are going to start tampering with the payroll tax, it suggests to me that at some point you are going to start taking the first dollar of income. This must be taken into context that we have already mandated a tax on the citizens of this territory of 3.75 percent which is the National Health Insurance. Where are these people going to get the money from? They are not getting increases in salaries,” he said.
Turning his attention to talk of proposed changes to property taxes, he gave an explanation why this would be an unwise move to make without proper consultation.
He pointed out that land held by Virgin Islanders have been handed down through the generations, adding that the ownership of such property has very little to do with economic resources and hence the question of land ownership is always a pivotal one to the local.
“In other words we are so used to holding on to 100 acres of land and paying 60 cents until now when it has progressed to maybe $60. but that is our richness...that is our wealth and I do not want to sit by and see anyone tampering with property taxes unless there is a substantial debate and a buy in from the elected representatives of this territory.”
Hon Fraser said that if property taxes are tampered with now, the children of landowners may not be able to do with the land what persons who want to buy the land are thinking of doing with it.
He called property a sacred possession to the Virgin Islander and that any discussion surrounding property taxes must bear this in mind. He also said there must be proper discussion and consensus before any changes are entertained.
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16 Responses to “'Don't tamper with Property Taxes! - Opp Leader Hon Julian Fraser”
And don't talk about all the lawsuit they will have to pay for.NDP is heading this little paradise and their people to poverty.
People of the BVI should prepare themselves for increases in taxes and a move towards an effective income tax rate of 20-25% over the next few years.