The Editor,
The Anguillian

Dear Sir:

ANGUILLIANS MUST BE PREPARED TO PAY MORE TAXES

I will probably be at odds with a number of my friends and other persons in Anguilla because of this letter in The Anguillian this week.

But the truth of the matter is that Anguillians need to pay more taxes to enable the Government to run and sustain the island’s public services more efficiently and effectively.

I know that Anguilla has been off British grant aid funds for a number of years now and I hope happily so. The fact is that such dependence is sometimes embarrassing especially when there is the impression that Britain is using the taxes of its people to pay for services in a territory whose nationals are not contributing to the tax base of their own economy. My understanding, however, is that in its present request to the British Government, the Anguilla Government is not making a case for money from Britain, but rather that it be allowed to borrow funds to run the island’s affairs.

That is completely a different matter. However, if Anguillians were paying certain additional, but affordable taxes, the Government would not be in its present financial dilemma. I hasten to add also that the Government needs to be more prudent in the granting of duty-free concessions to all persons and companies, a matter which has attracted much criticism by a number of persons (politically and otherwise), but not without some efforts of justification by the Government.

Subject to correction by Anguilla’s noted historian, Mr. Colville Petty, I believe that while neglect and dictatorship were some of the reasons given by Anguillians for rebelling against the St. Kitts Government in 1967, their objection to taxation, which was also regarded as being an added and exorbitant affliction to them, was part of the malady. I have noted that just before Anguilla rebelled, the Bradshaw Government had introduced a number of new taxes, one of which was called “Turnover Tax” whereby businesses making up to EC$500 a month were required to pay taxation on that amount. Then there was “Pay-As-You-Earn” tax. Another tax Anguillians were required to pay was “Land Tax”, a long requirement in addition to “House Tax” (now commonly called “Property Tax”).

I am not suggesting that Anguillians should now be made to pay Land Tax, although this could bring in substantial revenue, given the large areas of land many persons own in Anguilla. I wish to say, however, that in many places in the world people do pay Land Tax. They also pay Income Tax. This usually provides a huge supply of public funds which, together with other payments, considerably reduce the size of the pay checks of workers. I experience this regularly. I can understand the difficulty this would pose to workers in a small and hard-priced island like Anguilla, but many Anguillians who worked abroad have been accustomed to these payments elsewhere so they should understand civic and fiscal responsibility. There is also Value Added Tax (VAT) paid everywhere except in Anguilla and perhaps other islands. What this really amounts to is a Sales Tax on purchased goods where the supplier is expected to collect it from customers and pay it in to Government. Of course this requires careful planning, organisation and accountability and it certainly does not mean that the business community should increase the cost of their goods as a result of such a tax.

Probably I have some readers frowning by now, but we have to face reality in a changing and complex world, where the cost of living and the demand for money to provide services, are somethings we have to understand and live with. The Government of Anguilla has every right to be concerned and conservative about over-taxing its people, but both Government and the citizenry must be assertive and bold in finding innovative ways to finance the island’s affairs. It is a reality along the road to nation-building, sustainability, independence, pride and love for country.

Sylvia Richardson-Gumbs, Atlanta

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