Imagine keeping your entire paycheck without income tax deductions. It may sound like a distant possibility, but Prime Minister John Briceño says eliminating income tax altogether is part of his vision for Belize. That change, however, is not happening overnight. For now, Cabinet has directed the Belize Tax Service Department to review the existing tax structure and explore whether workers could get some relief through a higher tax-free threshold or lower income tax rates. The big question is how much more money could eventually stay in Belizeans’ pockets.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“It is our government that raised the threshold to thirty thousand dollars, twenty-nine. And by doing that we helped thousands of employees who were paying thousands stop paying taxes. But when we look at that bracket between twenty-nine thousand and fifty thousand, that is where the middle class is. And we recognize that the taxes they have to pay, it puts another pressure on these families. I wish we could get away and wave all taxes, income taxes. That would be my vision that someday we can do that. But whenever we do that, if we cut those taxes we have to find where we can get those revenues to replace that. And a large portion of the taxes we collect are from employees between that twenty-nine thousand and fifty-thousand. Cabinet has directed the Belize Tax Service to look at that tax bracket to see what cuts we can do. Can we cut it down by fifteen percent or raise the raise the threshold a little bit more. PM Briceño says that while he envisions a Belize free of income tax, his administration cannot act recklessly.”
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