Land tax changes still need improvement

One key part of the overall reform will involve land taxes. This morning Minister of Natural Resources Johnny Briceño, spoke of changes now being made to redress anomalies in the present system that have discriminated against certain types of landowners, particularly in the productive sector. Those changes will involve the creation of a larger number of categories of land types and acreages in an effort to make taxation more predictable and transparent. But the minister admitted that these alterations are not the final answer.

Johnny Briceño, Minister of Natural Resources
?We do feel though that certainly, that is still not enough. In the discussions in the Cabinet yesterday, we decided that since Minister Coye is going to embark into looking at the entire tax system in this country, that this is one of the issues that he will also–along with his team–take a look at.?

The planned tax reforms will be made using input from local experts as well as those provided by the InterAmerican Development Bank. Other items covered at the briefing included Government?s ratification of several international maritime conventions as well as an update on Belmopan’s compliance with reforms agreed to during recent negotiations with the National Trade Union Congress. According to Godfrey Smith, future cabinet briefings will follow today’s model, with different ministers appearing each time, depending on the subject matter.