U.D.P. joins unions in condemning Government

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise but the opposition United Democratic Party has condemned the government’s decision to implement new tax measures and its failure to follow the suggestions of the N.T.U.C.B. and Chamber of Commerce for alternative budget measures. In a release issued today the U.D.P. called upon Belizeans to “recommit themselves to the continued struggle for better governance and fairer taxation” and once again called on the present government to resign.

In related news, our attempts to clear up a claim by union officials have been partially successful. In recent media interviews N.T.U.C.B. spokesmen have referred to seventeen point five million dollars in tax arrears allegedly owed by the Belize Bank; money that the unions claim could be collected and used to address the budget shortfall. That solution, it turns out, may not be as easy as it seems, as sources in the taxation bureaucracy tell News 5 that the money in question is under dispute; that when the Belize Holdings Group negotiated its original deal as a public investment company it received a long-term exemption from paying corporate income tax. When the business tax was introduced, government claimed that the P.I.C. exemption did not apply and the Belize Bank would have to pay its share. A legal wrangle ensued followed by a compromise under which the bank has been allowed to pay a lower rate. Where this matter now stands is unclear, particularly in view of Belmopan’s decision to raise the P.I.C. rate in the new budget. However it plays out, it does not seem like that any seventeen point five million dollars will find its way into the treasury anytime soon, no matter who runs things in Belmopan.