Opposition Leader Godwin Friday says that the government should not contemplate any new or higher taxes in the budget that Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves is slated to present to parliament on Monday.
Parliament is scheduled to debate on Thursday the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2025.
Speaking on his weekly radio programme on NICE Radio on Monday, the opposition leader said the Unity Labour Party (ULP) government has taxed the people repeatedly during its 24 years in office.
“The people in the grocery store, they’re touching the turkey, they’re touching the ham, and they don’t know whether to pick it up or not because the cost is so high,” Friday said.
He said he knows the hardship that families face having to juggle to ensure that they had a good Christmas.
“And everybody deserves to have that, irrespective of your means,” he said, adding that people are feeling pressure.
“They have to know that somebody recognises that, somebody in government understands what they’re going through, and somebody is going to bring relief to them,” the opposition leader said.
“The present government, they’ve been in office for another nearly 25 years. What they have done is they have taxed the people over and over and over again, and … they better not bring any taxes in this budget this year, because that would be unconscionable.”
The opposition leader said the government has excused new or higher taxes as “a small thing here”.
“You’re charging a little bit more … to get your electricity approved, or a little bit more here and on vehicle licensing and so forth. ‘That ain’t no big deal.’
“Well, if it ain’t no big deal, why are you putting it there in the first place? It’s a big deal because the government is taking money out of your pocket. And this year is a year the government should be giving back to the people.”
Friday said the country’s roads are in a bad condition and this amounts to a tax on motorists.
“What it is really is an indirect tax, because when the government don’t fix the road, you gotta fix your car.
“And so, you keep paying and paying. Every year these fees are going up and the government is not fixing the roads, and then you have to turn around and change suspension parts on your vehicle, change your tyres and all kinds of thing,” Friday said.
“… this present government, they better not, and I’m putting them a notice here today, they better not bring any taxes in the budget 2025.”
In January 2024, Parliament approved a budget of EC$1.6 billion for that year after a debate that ended prematurely.