Senate Debates Fiscal Incentives Act Amendment

Senators debated a proposed amendment to the Fiscal Incentives Act brought from the House of Representatives. The amendment seeks to standardise the incentive and concession package provided to investors undertaking projects in Belize with a value of more than two hundred and fifty million U.S. dollars. Senator for Government Business Eamon Courtenay explained that this is the sole purpose of the amendment. Opposition Senator Michael Peyrefitte, however, questioned why an investor with access to so much capital would need such incentives and concessions.

 

Eamon Courtenay, Lead Government Senator

“The purpose is to avoid where possible and as much as possible, the necessity to negotiate every time one of these bug projects come in, there is a negotiation with government, they want tax exemptions from all sort of things for particular period of times and it varies depending on who is negotiation and what government is in power. We are trying to standardize it to make it clear this is what you are going to get if you have an investment over U.S. two hundred and fifty million dollars. We also make recommendations for highly skilled workers to allow them to bring in some of their personal effects with limited duty exemptions. The purpose is to standardize the exemption package and continue to attract investments so as not to have it on a one by one, looking at it a negation with one developer here and another one is in agriculture, so you give him something different, something is in tourism or industry. It is going to be standardized and that is the purpose.”

 

Michael Peyrefitte, Lead Opposition Senator

“There is an age-old question, if you don’t plan on doing anything wrong then why you need indemnity right. If you have two hundred and fifty million U.S dollars, why you need so many exemptions? You broke? You have two hundred and fifty million U.S dollars. Why is it that the only time we can attract people is when they say they have a certain amount of money. I will get into what the bill proposes. The bill doesn’t say you have to have it or that you have to show you have it. The bill doesn’t say before we even give you these things you need to park that money in Belize and if you change your mind, you have no choice but to spend it but here.”