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Shaw blasts ‘draconian’ amendments to Revenue Administration Act
THE Government is expected to use its majority in the House today to push through controversial amendments to the Revenue Administration Act. But the move is likely to result in capital flight, as some business operators have expressed discomfort with the proposals and have indicated that they will move their funds from Jamaica.
At the same time, the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party says it will mount a strong opposition to the Bill, which it insists will infringe on Jamaicans' right to privacy and open the country to "Gestapo-like financial terrorism".
(L-R) PHILLIPS... no time for Bill to be debated. SHAW... withdraw the legislation
(L-R) PHILLIPS... no time for Bill to be debated. SHAW... withdraw the legislation
"A number of businesses have expressed concern about the amendments and have indicated that they will pull their capital from Jamaica if the measures are approved," a reliable private sector source admitted to the Jamaica Observer last night.
Opposition spokesman on finance Audley Shaw said, while he had not heard of any such intention by the business sector, he would not be surprised.
"The length and breadth of the draconian possibilities that could be opened up by this legislation are unimaginable and unspeakable," Shaw told the Observer. "It would make the days of the Financial Investigation Unit of the 1970s look like a joke, and it could open up the avenues for a Gestapo-like financial terrorism."
The amendments will basically give the island's tax authorities more power to access Jamaicans' financial accounts with the aid of a court order.
They also provide for that information to be forwarded to foreign governments if requested.
Last night, Shaw referred to the tax authorities' raid on telecoms giant Digicel in May 2012, noting that it was conducted with police armed with machine guns.
"Now they want more power, for instance, to determine that, if in their opinion they feel that someone might conceal information, that person must have no prior knowledge that they are coming at them. They want to be able to go to the court to get an order without first seeking information from the person," Shaw said.
"They are trying to fulfil what they are claiming to be international obligations. When you look at the amendments that are proposed, foreign authorities are expecting the Jamaican police to become the financial police for them, and putting the right to privacy of Jamaicans at risk, which is in direct confrontation with the constitutional right to privacy that we have which are also guaranteed by the Charter of Rights that was recently passed in the House," Shaw added.
"Our rights are being infringed in our anxiety to fulfil international requirements. It's a very, very serious legislation that is coming forward, and it's going to be strenuously, strenuously opposed by the opposition," he said.
The Bill states that the decision was taken to amend the Act in order to remove certain barriers to the effective exchange of information that would satisfy Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards.
Shaw said that one of the most egregious clauses in the Bill seeks to give the commissioner general the right to contract 'any person' to provide the tax authorities with information.
"What does that 'any person' mean?" he asked. "That 'any person' could be an ex-convict, that 'any person' could be an employee of a company asked to provide information on the company."
He described the powers being proposed as very wide, sweeping and arbitrary, and said that they could make Jamaica into a police state.
The private sector source agreed.
"It is a draconian measure and is unfriendly to business," he said. "Jamaica already has a low ranking in the Doing Business Index, so this will only make it worse."
The Doing Business Index, compiled by the World Bank, ranks Jamaica at 90 of 185 countries listed.
"A high ranking on the ease of Doing Business Index means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm," the World Bank explains on its website. "This index averages the country's percentile rankings on 10 topics made up of a variety of indicators, giving equal weight to each topic."
Last week in the House, Shaw and his colleagues Karl Samuda and Edmund Bartlett were adamant that the Bill should not be passed until it has been reviewed by a bipartisan parliamentary committee, which can canvass the views of the public.
But Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips, who had decided to delay the vote by a week, said that the Government does not have time for the Bill to pass through the committee process, and insisted that a week's adjournment should be sufficient.
However, last night, Shaw cautioned the Government against trying to push the Bill through the House today.
"They must withdraw the legislation, don't try to bulldoze it tomorrow, put it to parliamentary discussion, allow for the bar association, the auditors, the Institute of Chartered Accountants and any other civil society groups to come and put forward their position on the legislation," he said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2WfjysaVf
THE Government is expected to use its majority in the House today to push through controversial amendments to the Revenue Administration Act. But the move is likely to result in capital flight, as some business operators have expressed discomfort with the proposals and have indicated that they will move their funds from Jamaica.
At the same time, the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party says it will mount a strong opposition to the Bill, which it insists will infringe on Jamaicans' right to privacy and open the country to "Gestapo-like financial terrorism".
(L-R) PHILLIPS... no time for Bill to be debated. SHAW... withdraw the legislation
(L-R) PHILLIPS... no time for Bill to be debated. SHAW... withdraw the legislation
"A number of businesses have expressed concern about the amendments and have indicated that they will pull their capital from Jamaica if the measures are approved," a reliable private sector source admitted to the Jamaica Observer last night.
Opposition spokesman on finance Audley Shaw said, while he had not heard of any such intention by the business sector, he would not be surprised.
"The length and breadth of the draconian possibilities that could be opened up by this legislation are unimaginable and unspeakable," Shaw told the Observer. "It would make the days of the Financial Investigation Unit of the 1970s look like a joke, and it could open up the avenues for a Gestapo-like financial terrorism."
The amendments will basically give the island's tax authorities more power to access Jamaicans' financial accounts with the aid of a court order.
They also provide for that information to be forwarded to foreign governments if requested.
Last night, Shaw referred to the tax authorities' raid on telecoms giant Digicel in May 2012, noting that it was conducted with police armed with machine guns.
"Now they want more power, for instance, to determine that, if in their opinion they feel that someone might conceal information, that person must have no prior knowledge that they are coming at them. They want to be able to go to the court to get an order without first seeking information from the person," Shaw said.
"They are trying to fulfil what they are claiming to be international obligations. When you look at the amendments that are proposed, foreign authorities are expecting the Jamaican police to become the financial police for them, and putting the right to privacy of Jamaicans at risk, which is in direct confrontation with the constitutional right to privacy that we have which are also guaranteed by the Charter of Rights that was recently passed in the House," Shaw added.
"Our rights are being infringed in our anxiety to fulfil international requirements. It's a very, very serious legislation that is coming forward, and it's going to be strenuously, strenuously opposed by the opposition," he said.
The Bill states that the decision was taken to amend the Act in order to remove certain barriers to the effective exchange of information that would satisfy Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards.
Shaw said that one of the most egregious clauses in the Bill seeks to give the commissioner general the right to contract 'any person' to provide the tax authorities with information.
"What does that 'any person' mean?" he asked. "That 'any person' could be an ex-convict, that 'any person' could be an employee of a company asked to provide information on the company."
He described the powers being proposed as very wide, sweeping and arbitrary, and said that they could make Jamaica into a police state.
The private sector source agreed.
"It is a draconian measure and is unfriendly to business," he said. "Jamaica already has a low ranking in the Doing Business Index, so this will only make it worse."
The Doing Business Index, compiled by the World Bank, ranks Jamaica at 90 of 185 countries listed.
"A high ranking on the ease of Doing Business Index means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm," the World Bank explains on its website. "This index averages the country's percentile rankings on 10 topics made up of a variety of indicators, giving equal weight to each topic."
Last week in the House, Shaw and his colleagues Karl Samuda and Edmund Bartlett were adamant that the Bill should not be passed until it has been reviewed by a bipartisan parliamentary committee, which can canvass the views of the public.
But Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips, who had decided to delay the vote by a week, said that the Government does not have time for the Bill to pass through the committee process, and insisted that a week's adjournment should be sufficient.
However, last night, Shaw cautioned the Government against trying to push the Bill through the House today.
"They must withdraw the legislation, don't try to bulldoze it tomorrow, put it to parliamentary discussion, allow for the bar association, the auditors, the Institute of Chartered Accountants and any other civil society groups to come and put forward their position on the legislation," he said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2WfjysaVf
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