TAX TOLL

IF YOU FEEL that you have been taxed to the hilt, you are right and you are the poorer for it.

In the last nine years, Barbadians have paid more taxes than in any similar period. Since 2008, $22.3 billion dollars have been given to a Treasury which has not only spent it all, but another six billion dollars to boot, creating a massive deficit.

By contrast, in the previous nine years, between the financial years 1999/2000 to 2007/2008, when the tax take peaked, Government took in $17.4 billion, and spent $18.8 billion.

Noteworthy is that the current Government spent only $1.6 billion in capital expenditure in that same period as compared to $2.4 billion spent by the previous administration in its last nine years in office.

This information is contained in the Central Bank of Barbados’ quarterly press releases that outline the “Summary of Government Operations”. They are all available on the bank’s website.

Since 2008, Government has imposed as many as 40 new or expanded revenue-making measures which are outlined in our interactive Tax Timeline below.

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1U9ZrKeYYXEt8azvNEhLZX2JGqZR0x_bmUAincSJvh-8&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650