Members
Parliament
Transparency
Dr. Douglas De Couto, JP, MP

Dr. Douglas De Couto, JP, MP

1768
Speeches
616,883
Words Spoken
69
Sittings Active
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
54 words
The Superannuation Fund. I have to say, I know that the staff and employees of the Government have received raises. We have heard a lot about that. So, I am little confused why we do not really see material increases in the contributions to the public sector superannuation fund. That being item 21010 there.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
278 words
Because I was expecting to see that go up along with the salaries, Mr. Chairman. I think I have an inkling, but I just want to make sure I get that right. So can the Junior explain that? I also see a slight decrease in the Contributory Pension contributions. Could the Junior Minister tell us about that? Thank you. Remaining …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
14 words
We are not doing . . . Mr. Chairman, we are skipping Land Valuation.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
4 words
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
538 words
Perfect. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. All right, so we are on page B -116 and we are looking at Head 12, Customs. We heard a lot about the customs duty costs, customs duty cuts. Probably there could be instances there where perhaps the Government could consider giving even larger cuts, let us say for low -cost housing. That would be, …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
380 words
Can we have an explanation as to what changes have been made to let them actually achieve that $3.1 million? Also, if the objective is $4.6 million, I am not sure why they are budgeting $3.1 million. Perhaps the subjective should be $4.6 [million]. Remaining under that business unit, Compliance, 38040, on page B -119, I think it is pretty …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
7 words
Yes. Flipping a page to B -120.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
779 words
That’s right. We are glad to hear about the various initiatives in the Office of the Tax Commissioner. I certainly had to interact with it a few times over the year s, and they are often very helpful. One thing that we can say about G overnment departments is that people often do like to complain, but they have often …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
10 words
That is right. It is revenue source 8017, Payroll Tax.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
147 words
Yes. Following on, Mr. Chairman, we hear a lot about the CIT. And one of the tenets of the CIT is a thing called “qualified refundable tax credits.” And I am not going to bore everybody with that here. But, companies are going to be paying more tax. And they are looking at that number and they are going to …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
13 words
—and you can see the Revenue Estimates out through 2026/27 and 2027/ 28.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
16 words
Yes, projected revenue over the next two years. So, your medium- term outlook, you might say.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
12 words
Okay, remaining on this page, back to page B -122, Mr. Chairman.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
63 words
I note that Bank Services Tax is going up $311,000. And I would like to understand what the driver is for that. I also see the Corporate Services Tax is going up 10 per cent. I think I know what the answer will be, but again, if the Junior Minister would confirm their views on how they arrived at that …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
12 words
Yes, my apologies, 8018, Bank Services Tax, and 8019, Corporate Services Tax.
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
96 words
And I also see the Insurance Services Tax’s budget is going up to $51,000, or 4 per cent. An interesting note here, of course, Mr. Chairman, is when there is inflation, especially insurance inflation, or inflation linked rises in pay, of course the Government gets better revenue, and it is a little bit off the backs of . . . …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
157 words
Of course, if you buy insurance, you pay a 3.5 per cent tax on that. So, as your insurance rates go up you are also paying more tax to the government. I see, now going down that same table, 8029, Foreign Currency Purchase Tax, and the Government is forecasting a 6 per cent increase, or $1.9 million. We would like …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
13 words
Yes. But now we are looking at the detailed revenue. [Inaudible interjections ]
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
85 words
Yes. These are questions I could have sent to the Premier early. I did certainly . . . I know some Ministers have been quite friendly and allowed . . . we have had some collaboration, and they have gotten back. And I did write to the Premier a week ago, Mr. Chairman, but he wrote me back about 2:00 …
16 May 2025 House of Assembly
Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly
23 words
I appreciate that he was busy travelling. [Crosstalk and laughter] Hon. E. David Burt: You could have still sent me your questions. [Laughter]