LAND TAXATION IN BARBADOS – is it fair?
That was the question Wayne Forde, commissioner of land tax, sought to answer last Tuesday night as he addressed members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) during one of their monthly sessions at the Accra Beach Hotel.
Insisting that taxes were not penalties but rather a measure to assist in the development of the country, Forde suggested that taxation would always be around.
“You can’t get away from it. Whether it is fair or not, that is a major source of Government’s revenue,” he said, listing a number of taxes that were in effect in Barbados.
He said there were basically only three avenues available to Government to earn revenue: borrowing from local, regional or international financial or lending institutions; earnings from export and duties, and taxation.
Comparing Barbados’ methods and rates of land taxation with other jurisdictions that had higher rates and different methods, such as Britain and the United States and in some instances Japan and Jamaica, Forde told the roomful of RICS valuation and quantity surveyors, real estate agents and project managers that they should view the land tax as something positive.
Forde, who is also a tutor at the University of the West Indies’ open campus, said the money collected was pooled into the consolidated fund which went toward the development of education on the island, water resources, road maintenance and other essential services such as the police and fire departments and ambulance service.
“Because we are a revenue-collecting agency, we are in the forefront – but behind the scenes, what do we do?
We have better roads, your garbage gets taken up on mornings, you have police patrolling, you have more schools.
“You need taxation no matter what form you put it in,” he maintained.
Noting that land tax was “very difficult to avoid or evade’, people knew what they were paying for, the rates were almost predictable and it was transparent”.
Forde added that the department contributed just over $100 million to the Treasury each year.
“On the downside, the tax is not perfect and is often not popular. Which tax do you know is popular? Probably none, and the process can be very, very time consuming . . . so we have an upside to land taxes and we have a downside,” he said. (MM)
