Government Looks To Pass Revenue Authority Bill With Simple Majority

After a decade of attempts, Finance Minister Colm Imbert says Government will make an adjustment to pass the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority Bill 2021 with a Simple Majority. Speaking in the Senate on Tuesday, Mr. Imbert says there have been numerous attempts in the past decade to get this Bill on stream, including in the last few years. However, he notes that the Bill was not supported by the Opposition in 2018 and 2019, and reminds that the UNC had stated that it will continue to use its numbers so that the Three Fifths Majority cannot be achieved. The Minister says the previous Bill required a Special Majority since they sought to confer the powers authorities and privileges of members of the Police Service on persons who were to be appointed by the T&T Revenue Authority, and not on public officers. Mr. Imbert believes a Revenue Authority is urgently needed during this time. The Finance Minister says the Bill is identical to the previous Bill that was accepted by a JSC a couple of years ago, with the exception of the one policy change to solve the deadlock.