Global Daily Tax News, Trinidad And Tobago Releases 2025 Budget, (Oct 11, 2024)

Trinidad and Tobago has announced plans for a tax amnesty and a review of the oil and gas sector tax regime, in its newly released 2025 Budget.

The Government said the amnesty will allow taxpayers to settle outstanding taxes and benefit from a waiver of penalties and interest. The general amnesty will also cover employer's liabilities in relation to national insurance, the Government said, and will run from October 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.

On oil and gas taxation, the Budget notes the earlier implementation of a 12.5 percent royalty on oil and gas production – intended to ensure that the Government generates more consistent revenues from the sector, having received no revenues from a major energy company in the nine years from 2015.

The Government said: "Oil and gas taxation is a very complex area [...] we must always seek to balance tax incentives with revenue collection [...]. Accordingly, together with the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, I will be meeting with the Energy Chamber within the next three months, to discuss what can be done, within reason, to stimulate further exploration and production, so that appropriate adjustments can be made to the oil and gas taxation regime in the first quarter of 2025, through a Finance Bill."

Finally, the Government has announced that, from January 1, 2025, the territory will exempt all electric vehicle charging equipment and related accessories from all duties and taxes.

The Budget also confirms that the Government will soon seek lawmakers' support for new transfer pricing legislation. Following on from the recent adoption of legislation on country-by-country reporting, the law is intended to establish a transfer pricing regime that is aligned with global best practices and the expectations on the territory as a member of the BEPS Inclusive Framework.