Increase in rate of sales tax undermines PM’s boasts of economic growth and underscores his mismanagement, Opposition says

Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s ongoing boasts about economic
growth and the Government’s well-oiled tax-collection machinery
appear to be lies, given the stated increase on the Antigua and
Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST).
 
The United Progressive Party (UPP) says the Labour Party
Administration is unable to meet fiscal demands and continues to
borrow to meet its obligations – in spite of having collected the most
revenue of any Government.
 
The Party credits itself with having been a prudent government; and
in spite of significantly lower collections, it recalls that the Baldwin
Spencer Administration, in its first term, increased public servants’
salaries by a minimum of 17 percent.
 
This is a stark comparison to the sitting administration’s financial
mismanagement, the Opposition Party notes.
 
“This year alone, the Government gave away more than $300 million
in tax concessions,” the Party says in a press release.
 
And yet, Customs Department Comptroller Raju Boddu recently
announced the agency’s record-breaking collection of $327 million
in the first 10 months of 2023 – even without an aggressive and
efficient tax-collection mechanism.
 
Accordingly, the UPP is asking how the Gaston Browne
Administration reconciles this boast with the expected 2 percent
increase in the sales tax.
 
According to the Opposition party, further hardship will be inflicted
on the poor – who already have been insulted by the recent 80
cents-per-hour increase in the minimum wage.

The hike in the ABST – with further tax increases to be announced in
the 2024 Budget Presentation – will negatively affect the shrinking
middle class, as well, the UPP says.

Therefore, the 2 percent must be resisted by all persons with a
conscience, the Party declares.