Sinckler: Taxes necessary

Without taxes this country would not be able to meet the myriad costs needed to keep it running and provide for its people.

So says Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Christopher Sinckler, who has indicated that 92 per cent of the tax revenue collected in Barbados goes towards providing, among other things, wages and salaries which stand at around $1.4 billion; goods and services; transfer and subsidies; and social services such as health, education, water and sanitation. The taxes, he said, ensure that Barbadians can maintain a high quality of life and standard of living.

He spoke to this as he delivered the Astor B. Watts Lunchtime Lecture at the Democratic Labour Party’s Headquarters yesterday afternoon on the topic “Where Do Our Taxes Go”.

“How is this economy constructed? It is constructed on a social base, that’s what makes Barbados what it is, because we don’t have natural resources like Trinidad or Guyana, or some other countries in the world where you can go and get oil and bauxite and aluminium and whatever you can get and sell it.

“We didn’t have that, we had some sugar cane and we had people, that was the extent of Barbados and we surmised that if you invest in people and give them certain skills, they will be
able over time to improve not just their own personal circumstances and their community’s circumstances, but they would be able to improve the national circumstances so that the country becomes better,” he said.

The Finance Minister added, “And where did we put the expenditure? In health, in education, in social welfare, in sanitation [and] in water. Things that we now hear countries fighting to get for their citizens, this little Barbados achieved many, many years ago.”

With that in mind, Minister Sinckler contended that the debate among Barbadians should be regarding how to protect such services, noting that there are numerous persons who cannot survive or exist if those social platforms are removed. Using the example of the Transport Board, Minister Sinckler said that the current bus fare of $2 is not the “true and exact cost” of a ride. He said that cost is really in the region of $5 per trip, and he indicated that the remaining $3 is paid from the money collected in taxes.

“We spend two hundred and fifty somebody million in the QEH [and] 11 per cent of the QEH’s budget is actually spent on saving the lives of persons who have to get dialysis treatment in Barbados for kidney problems… If we don’t raise the taxes to give the money to the QEH, what you think will happen to them? Throw them to the wolves? Let them go out there and fend for themselves? How many of them are going to be able to go and pay that price that cost to a private person?” he queried. (JRT)

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