Tax grab

Government likes tax so much that a staggering 95 per cent of its revenue is via that medium.

When the composition of direct and indirect taxes was examined, said the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the contribution non-tax revenue made to the public finances was five per cent.

The IDB’s Caribbean Department made that observation while examining Barbados’ “rising fiscal deficits” in a new report on the region’s financial challenges.

“The contribution of tax revenue to total revenue reached around 95 per cent in [fiscal year] 2016/17. Direct taxes contributed 37 per cent of total tax revenue, while indirect taxes represented 58 per cent, with non-tax revenue contributing the remainder,” the IDB said. (SC)

Please read the full story in today’s Daily Nation, or in the eNATION edition.