Gov't tables white paper on tax reform

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

The long-awaited white paper on tax reform was this afternoon tabled in the Parliament by Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips.

Phillips also tabled a private/public policy framework in the House as well as a ministry paper on the Corporate Governance Framework for Public Bodies.

"It is to be noted that some of the papers that have been tabled today represent commitments made by the previous administration during the negotiations with the IMF as a precondition for the signing of a 27-month standby agreement in 2010," Phillips said.

He told Parliament that tax reform should have been completed by August 2011 and the White Paper tabled by November 2011; and that a pension reform white paper should have been tabled by January this year.

Parliament is currently considering a report from a joint select committee on Pension Reform.

"By tabling these papers today, this administration is now making good on those commitments which the previous administration failed to honour and which were among the factors which caused the collapse of the standby agreement negotiated in 2010," Phillips said.

In the meantime, Audley Shaw, the Opposition Spokesman on Finance, said the reforms are all weighty matters which continues to require consultations.

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daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com