Income Tax Reform is Not Electioneering Says PM Briceño

PM Briceño was also asked if the new income tax regime is being used as a political tactic to garner support ahead of the 2025 general elections. And, if less income tax goes to the public’s coffer, what will the government do to replace that lost income? Here is how the prime minister responded to those questions.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“No, absolutely not. We said it from early on, this is something that we want to do. We want to be able to see how we could give relief to the middle class. The middle class are the ones paying these taxes. And so, this is the first stop. Remember, when we got into government we got a bankrupt government. We were borrowing a million dollars a day. There is no way we could afford it. So we have to make sure we can grow the economy. When you see that our economy has gone for less than four billion in 2020 to over six billion dollars now, it shows tremendous growth. Now, we have to ensure we collect the taxes. In doing that, we will be able to give more relief to our citizens. What we did is that we looked at the tax rolls from the Belize Tax Service and they said these are the people that are registered. But I believe that with doing this I think we will be able to capture more people within that amount that they will be able to register and pay as a tax payer.”

 

Reporter

“The total revenue basket must remain the same. So what increase in revenue collection will there be to offset the lose incurred from the income tax break?”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“As I said earlier, as the economy continuous to grow we expect more taxes. With the growth we are projecting, the first quarters of this year we had a ten percent growth. We believe that will be able to offset those revenues. But you are right, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If we give something we have to get it from somewhere else. So we expect with the growth in the economy we will be able to offset those loses.”