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Swaratsingh: TTRA will not improve revenue collection

MINISTER in the Ministry of Finance Dr Kennedy Swaratsingh says there is no evidence the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA) can improve revenue collection. He made this comment when he opened debate on the TTRA (Repeal) Bill, 2025 in the Senate on June 23. The House of Representatives passed the bill on June 13. Swaratsingh, a former PNM government minister from 2007-2010, described the TTRA as an attempt to create an entity to carry out a function which is supposed to be handled by the state. He claimed there is nothing to suggest that placing revenue collection "outside public service has led to an increase in revenues in government." Swaratsingh said the former PNM government's attempt to create the TTRA damaged the morale of the public officers at the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and the Customs and Excise Division. He also claimed the BIR was starved of the resources it needed to do proper tax collection. Swaratsingh said the UNC has "the utmost faith and confidence in our men and women who occupy the corridors of the public service." The Public Service Association (PSA), which represents workers in the BIR and Customs, was a member of the UNC's "coalition of interests" in the April 28 general election. He told senators the challenges the BIR faces with respect to revenue collection are not new. The PNM, Swaratsingh continued, had three options to address the BIR's deficiencies. "Leave it as it is, try to fix it but they chose an alternative form which is to set up a revenue authority which will sit outside of the public service." He claimed the "creation of the TTRA eroded the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers and weakened the traditional check and balances designed to protect the impartiality of tax administration." The Senate will continue debate on the bill when it sits on June 27 from 10 am. During debate on the bill in the House on June 13, Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo said the scrapping of the TTRA was one of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's campaign promises. He said the most responsible solution to outstanding challenges faced by the BIR and Customs and Excise was to strengthen and properly resource the organisations rather than dismantle the BIR. Tancoo claimed the TTRA breached constitutional and human rights, allowed for executive overreach and political interference in tax collection and eroded the independence of the Public Service Commission. The post Swaratsingh: TTRA will not improve revenue collection appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.