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Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo responds to opposition members during a debate in Parliament on November 21. - Photo by Faith AyoungFINANCE Minister Davendranath Tancoo has rejected claims by his predecessor Colm Imbert that government intends to implement a series of taxes on the population when it presents the Finance Bill 2025 at a sitting of the House of Representatives on December 5.
The House is scheduled to sit at 1.30 pm on that day.
A finance bill is a normal piece of legislation which normally follows the passage of the budget and its purpose to effect some of the policies that were outlined in the budget.
In a WhatsApp comment on December 3, Tancoo said, "Colm Imbert knows full well that the circulation of the bill within this timeframe is entirely consistent with parliamentary requirements."
He added, "This has been the procedure for well over a decade, including throughout his own tenure as minister of finance."
Tancoo claimed Imbert was engaging in theatrics and constant complaints.
"Mr Imbert should simply do the job he was elected to do. Parliamentary work is demanding, and all members, including the Opposition, are expected to apply themselves accordingly."
Tancoo said, "As Minister of Finance, I am working around the clock to clean up the financial and administrative mess left behind by the previous administration."
He added, "But you don’t hear me complaining about the workload."
Tancoo said, "Trinidad and Tobago deserves serious, responsible parliamentarians, not childish whining about the length of a bill."
He repeated that Imbert should do "what he is being paid to do, so he should quit complaining and do his job."
In a post on X on December 5, Imbert said, "The UNC government has just circulated a 44 page bill which they intend to railroad through (the House) on Friday (December 5) with an avalanche of new taxes."
The Diego Martin North/East MP added, "Landlord tax, electricity tax plus a 20 per cent increase in NIS (National Insurance System) rates and increased fines to add to the 100 per cent in alcohol taxes. Wickedness."
When he presented the 2025/2026 budget in the House on October 13, Tancoo announced measures such as an immediate increase in custom duties on rum, beer and cigarettes to help government earn more revenues.
Other similar measures such as increases in NIS, electrical surcharges on commercial and industrial customers and levies on commercial banks are proposed to take effect from January 1, 2026.
The budget has a projected expenditure and revenue of $59.232 billion and $55.367 billion respectively. The projected deficit is $3.865 billion.
The 2024/2025 budget, under the former PNM government, had a projected revenue, expenditure and fiscal deficit of $54.224 billion, $ 59.741 billion and $ 5.517 billion respectively.
Tancoo's budget was pegged on oil and natural gas prices of US$73.25 per barrel and US$4.25 per mmbtu, respectively. Last year's budget was set on oil and gas prices of US$77.80 per barrel and US$3.59 per mmbtu respectively.
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