00:00As he delivered the 2025-2026 fiscal plan, Finance Minister Devendra Natanku said the UNC administration will tackle an area that has been ignored for years.
00:11Multinational corporations must pay their fair share of taxes.
00:16For years under the previous government, the issue of transfer pricing has raised, but was never addressed in a cohesive, structured manner.
00:25A study by the ECLAC estimated that Trinidad and Tobago lost approximately $17.5 billion over eight years due to the failure to act on transfer pricing.
00:41He says addressing the issue will ogre well for the country in several ways, including but not limited to creating revenue, leveling the playing field for local businesses, and attracting further investors.
00:56This government will once and for all review, make adjustments, and implement transfer pricing legislation to secure and fortify our revenue base.
01:08Tanku states that he intends to bring the legislation to the parliament soon, but the government is also going after illegal lotteries.
01:18According to Tanku, while the National Lotteries Control Board generates around $3 billion in gross revenue annually, illegal operators are seriously hampering NLCB's business.
01:30In doing so, the minister says, they also rubbed the government in several areas of taxes.
01:35It is estimated that revenues generated from illegal lotteries are upwards of $9 billion per year.
01:44But it gets worse.
01:47These illegal operators are reportedly also involved in other forms of illegal activity, including money laundering, black market activities, and human trafficking.
01:59And Tanku has proposed increasing penalties under sections 19, 20, and 21 of the Gambling and Betting Act.
02:08As an example, under Section 19, this penalty will be a fine of $250,000 and to imprisonment for three years.
02:21Or B, conviction on indictment to a fine of $3 million and to imprisonment for seven years.
02:28This is consistent with the new penalties that will be implemented as soon as the Gambling, Gaming and Betting Control Act is proclaimed.
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