Where Is Our Waiver? Taxes, Broken Promises, and Sky High Bills.
As a working-class homeowner in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, opening the mailbox has become an exercise in anxiety. Every month brings a fresh reminder that regular, law-abiding Vincentians are carrying the financial weight of this country on their shoulders, while foreign corporate interests get a free pass.
Recently, I found myself standing in line this month to settle outstanding property taxes, along with accumulated interest and late penalties.
It is a debt that looms over almost every hardworking family trying to maintain a piece of land to pass down to our children. Yet, while local homeowners are squeezed for every cent, the government found a way to pass amendments to the Companies Act, granting exemptions, reducing fees, and penalty waivers to offshore companies.
The government’s justification is the usual, attracting international financial services and fostering global investment. But how is it fair that non-resident entities operating on paper can enjoy structural tax relief and a clean slate, while local property owners who live here, spend here, and build here receive no such leniency? When a home-grown family hits a hard financial patch, the Inland Revenue Department does not hand out corporate-style waivers; it demands full payment whether through installments or otherwise , plus interest.
To make matters worse, the financial pressure at home does not stop with property taxes. Surviving the monthly VINLEC bill has turned into an uphill battle. The fuel surcharge continues to skyrocket, often being more than the actual charge for the energy we consume.
We were once assured by the Prime Minister that our fuel surcharge would never exceed our base consumption charge. Yet month after month, Vincentian households look at their electric bills only to see fuel surcharge double the cost of the actual used electricity. We are forced to decide between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.
It feels as though there are two sets of rules in St. Vincent and the Grenadines: one for the rich, elites, and foreign offshore corporations who get tax breaks and waivers, and another for local homeowners who face rising utility bills and unrelenting tax demands. It is time for the government to show the same compassion and economic relief to the citizens living on the ground as it so willingly extends to entities registered on paper.
