With a second increase in the sales tax, the government wants to raise SRD 22 million per month. The sales tax should be replaced by the value added tax (VAT) by mid-2022. NDP parliamentarian Stephen Tsang arrived at this calculation yesterday during his speech in the National Assembly (DNA), when discussing the draft law amending the turnover tax law 1997.
If this increase takes effect on 1 September as proposed by VHP assembly member Asiskumar Gajadien, this means that there will be approximately nine months between 1 September and the introduction of VAT. The government therefore aims to collect SRD 198 million (nine times SRD 22 million) from the people with this measure. Roughly SRD 200 million until VAT is introduced, says Tsang.
Last week, Minister Armand Achaibersing of Finance and Planning indicated that there is a surplus of SRD 1.5 billion on government revenue. “That is a nice windfall and it is already 7.5 times more than what you want to get with this second increase in sales tax, says assembly member Tsang.
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