Trinidad and Tobago<\/p>\n
THERE is a cost to shutting down a business. When it comes to State enterprises, it runs into hundreds of millions in Voluntary Separation Packages and it can take years.<\/p>\n
State enterprises are mostly closed because they are inefficient and that instead of generating profits and contributing to the coffers of the country with taxes, they are actually a drain on the Treasury.<\/p>\n
For fiscal 2023, the Government will spend about $85 million on State enterprises which have already been closed<\/p>\n
According to the Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure for fiscal 2023, sums have been earmarked for state entities that have been winding down for years:<\/p>\n
1. The sum of $450,000 was allocated to British West Indies Airways (BWIA) for fiscal 2023. BWIA was shut down in 2016 and CAL was created and started operations in 2017.<\/p>\n
This sum for BWIA is separate from sums allocated to its successor Caribbean Airlines (CAL) for fiscal 2023. CAL is expected to receive $85,635,130 from the Ministry of Finance for the fiscal year, a reduction of $9,364,870 the airline received in fiscal 2022..<\/p>\n
2. The sum of $10.7 million has been allocated to Caroni (1975) Limited, an increase of $174,020 from fiscal 2022. In addition $2 million has been allocated for the settlement of claims for Caroni\u2019s pension plan. Caroni (1975) has been closed for 20 years, yet leases to former Caroni workers, which were part of their Voluntary Separation Package (VSEP), are yet to be completed.<\/p>\n
The Estate Management Business Development Company (EMBD), a special purpose State entity which was vested with Caroni Lands, said that it is 95 per cent complete with 130 more to go.<\/p>\n
In 2019, Caroni (1975) chairman Jerry Hospedales revealed that since the State-owned company closed down in 2003, Government has spent $10 billion in \u201cwrapping\u201d it up. Hospedales said a large chunk of this money was spent on pensions, training courses, monetary benefits and residential and agricultural lands for former employees.<\/p>\n
Its successor, the Sugar Manufacturing Company Ltd has been allocated the $4,690,600 for fiscal 2023, a decrease of $4,931,347 from fiscal 2022.<\/p>\n
3. The Trinidad and Tobago Petroleum Company (Petrotrin) has been allocated the sum of $450,000, the same as 2022;<\/p>\n
4. The Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company Limited (a legacy company) has also been allocated $450,000, the same as 2022;<\/p>\n
5. The sum of $3,035,260, has been allocated to the Tourism Development Company (TDC) which is an increase from $2,889,800 in 2022. The TDC was closed in 2017.<\/p>\n
6. The Tourism and Industrial Development Company (TIDCO), which was closed in 2005, was allocated a sum of $200,000, the same as in 2022.<\/p>\n
7. Some $60,954,250 has been allocated to the Community Improvement Services Ltd (CISL), which was closed in 2017. In fiscal 2022, it was also allocated $60 million.<\/p>\n
8. The Government Information Services Ltd (GISL) which was closed in 2017, has been allocated the sum of $1.5 million in fiscal 2023 after receiving no transfer or allocation in fiscal 2022.<\/p>\n
Despite not being a State entity, a sum of $500,000 has been allocated for the Hindu Credit Union, which is in liquidation.<\/p>\n
In addition to making transfers to former state enterprises to meet legacy issues, the Government also has debt servicing for loans that entities would have taken out during their operations.<\/p>\n
For debt servicing for fiscal 2023, the sum of $5.9 million was allocated to Taurus Services and the sum of $16.2 million to TIDCO.<\/p>\n
According to the Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure, the sum of $1.9 million, an outstanding figure on the Government\u2019s books for the restructuring of First Citizens, was cleared in fiscal 2022.<\/p>\n
Despite the delay in the procurement legislation, the Government has allocated $2.6 million to the Central Tenders Board (CTB) for fiscal 2023 and $25.2 million to the Office of Procurement.<\/p>\n
New bodies<\/p>\n
for revenue<\/p>\n
While it won\u2019t generate revenue, the Ministry of Finance has allocated $100 million to the Secondary Road Rehabilitation and Improvement Company, which will fall under the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government.<\/p>\n
For revenue, they have allocated $19 million for the capitalisation and operationalisation of the Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Commission, which is a statutory body.<\/p>\n
Last March, Finance Minister Colm Imbert appointed Stephen Tang Nian as chairman of the Commission and Stevan Thomas as deputy chairman.<\/p>\n
However, it has not been operationalised or added revenue to the State.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect to generate our first streams of proper gaming revenue in financial year 2022 with full revenue generation in the years following,\u201d Imbert said in Budget 2022.<\/p>\n
In Budget 2023, Imbert said: \u201cFollowing the partial proclamation in June 2021 of sections of the Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Act, we took steps to operationalise the Gambling Control Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have appointed the Board of Commissioners who have begun their work to recruit staff, procure information technology to support compliance and tax collection, procure and outfit physical accommodation, design business processes, commence specialised training of staff and develop their strategic plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commission is also in the process of finalising the draft regulations for the gaming and gambling industry to provide the required oversight and define the policy for the regulation of the gaming and betting sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will undertake relevant consultations and public sensitisation on these Regulations before enactment. Accordingly, revenue collection by the Gambling Control Commission is expected to commence in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decades in the works, Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA) has been allocated a smaller sum of $10 million in the 2023 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
The TTRA was supposed to be operationalised as expected in fiscal 2022 but Imbert said it will be done in fiscal 2023.<\/p>\n
A director general has not yet been identified.<\/p>\n
In Budget 2023, Imbert noted that after more than a decade of technical work and stakeholder consultations, the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA) was finally established with the passage of the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority Act in 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe TTRA has begun to build out its governance structure following the partial proclamation of certain sections of the Act in March 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appointed a strong Board of Management in June 2022, and we envisage that the TTRA will be operational in 2023 with an improved revenue administration combining the operations of the Inland Revenue and the Custom and Excise Divisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the Board\u2019s priorities will be fulfilment of the legislative requirement to submit to the Minister of Finance within six months of appointment a strategic plan and operational plan for moving the TTRA forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Board has engaged a Strategic Adviser and is working assiduously towards this objective, and I fully expect to have the Strategic and Operational Plans in hand within the stipulated time frame.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce received and approved the Board will have a clear roadmap for effecting the long-awaited operationalization of the TTRA.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother key initiative of the Board that is ongoing, is the recruitment of a Director General who would lead the merged entity and be integral to the smooth transition to the TTRA. We expect that this key corporate officer will be selected by the end of 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Board is also working on establishing the information technology and communication systems that will form the operational platform for the Authority and is working with other State agencies to create the infrastructure and systems needed to maximize the collection of taxes in a fair manner for the benefit of the entire country.\u201d<\/p>\n
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