Dutch willing to assist with a complete overhaul of Tax Department on St. Maarten to increase compliance.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Finance Richard Gibson said on Wednesday that the CFT has given St. Maarten the green light to borrow Naf30M for capital investments. The Minister said only last week the CFT sent him a letter approving the capital investments and for the first time approved the loan of a maximum of Naf.30M for capital investments. He said even though the 2016 budget was balanced the country was not allowed to borrow, but instead they were told to use up the monies they have sitting on the banks.
The Minister also said that the CFT also approved another Naf30M for the construction of a building for the tax department which will also bring the tax department and the inspectorate under the same roof. He made the clear that this investment is not part of the capital investments, but it is separate and is meant to upgrade the tax department and to also enhance the IT system.
The Minister of Finance said some Naf6M was set aside to renovation of the tax department and to also modernize the IT system at tax department in order to bring it up to the 21st century.
The Minister said that the government IT system lagged over the years and it is regrettable that this happened but government is working on upgrading the entire system in order for it to be up to par.
