{"id":1741,"date":"2017-05-12T02:05:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T02:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/antiguanewsroom.net\/?p=1741"},"modified":"2017-07-23T17:36:10","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T17:36:10","slug":"trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"antig-3886260519\" class=\"antig-ecab antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-3603251016\" class=\"antig-before-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/medicalbenefitsscheme\" aria-label=\"ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:341\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p>The Government\u2019s revenue for the year has been revised upward from TT$47.2 billion (One TT dollar =US$0.16 cents) to $48 billion due to an expected increase of $575 million from income taxes from petroleum companies.<\/p><div id=\"antig-2605536804\" class=\"antig-content_5 antig-entity-placement\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:771\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:771\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 1143w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:214\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 214w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:732\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 732w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:1075\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:771\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/quueens.jpeg 1097w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1143\" height=\"1600\"   \/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Colm-Imbert.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-133633\" src=\"http:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Colm-Imbert.jpg\" alt=\"Colm Imbert\" width=\"409\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Finance Minister Colm Imbert made the revelation as he presented his mid-year review of the budget in Parliament on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>He said the government now sees to focus on revenue collection an boost efforts to improve tax administration and compliance for the remainder of the fiscal year.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1061470988\" class=\"antig-content_4 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-4244265808\" class=\"antig-content_12 antig-entity-placement\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1320\/h:730\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1320\/h:730\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:166\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:566\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:425\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:696\/h:385\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1320\" height=\"730\"   \/><\/div>\n<p>This will be done with the help of a Revenue Authority.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3784481487\" class=\"antig-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>He said the government will submit enabling legislation to a Joint Select Committee of Parliament for scrutiny, and a project implementation committee has been established, to expedite the work required to establish the Revenue Authority.<\/p>\n<p>To modernise the outdated revenue collection system, he said, appropriate consultations with recognised trade unions to build consensus will be held.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1662574160\" class=\"antig-content_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_0783\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 500w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:150\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe need to see a quantum leap in the performance of our revenue collection agencies as soon as possible, since there is no doubt that tax leakage and tax avoidance is widespread,\u201d he said, \u201cresulting in a loss of revenue to the Treasury in the billions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He noted that the budget was predicated on an average oil price of US$48 per barrel and a natural gas price of US$ 2.25 per mmbtu.<\/p><div id=\"antig-2860323016\" class=\"antig-content_3 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_1115\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:240\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:819\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe have therefore increased the expected tax collections from the energy sector for 2017 to $3.6 billion, compared with the original budget projection of $2.6 billion, an increase of $1 billion,\u201d he said As such, central government\u2019s overall deficit for 2017, he said, is now projected at $5.9 billion (an estimated 3.8 per cent of GDP), compared with the original projected deficit of $6.0 billion (3.9 percent of GDP).<\/p><div id=\"antig-3516712303\" class=\"antig-content_6 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Imbert added that Government expenditure for the half year was 14 percent lower than projected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the six months of the fiscal year, we had projected to spend $27.3 billion, roughly half of the approved budget of $53 billion. We actually spent $23.5 billion, or $3.8 billion less than projected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said government expected to receive $6.3 billion in capital revenue in the first half of the year due in part from the sale of CLICO assets. He said these have been delayed due to legal \u2018road blocks\u2019 which government is in the process of unravelling.<\/p>\n<p>He said there was also a shortfall in projected VAT collections amounting to $669 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are indications that the major problem continues to be the long-standing weakness in our tax administration in both the Customs and Excise Division and the Board of Inland Revenue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Imbert added income tax collections amounted to $743 million, 11 percent higher than projected, due in part to the 30 percent tax bracket on corporations and the \u2018millionaire tax\u2019 on persons with annual taxable incomes exceeding $1 million.<\/p>\n<p>Concerning plans for further taxation, the Finance Minister dismissed the rumours. \u201cThere will thus be no increases in fuel prices in this midyear review.\u201d However, between 2015 and 2018, he said, Government intends to remove the subsidy on gasoline and diesel, so that the price of fuel will rise and fall in accordance with changes in world oil prices and the ex-refinery price of petroleum products.<\/p>\n<p>Turning to the issue of property he said the first phase went smoothly, starting with the submission of Valuation Return Forms with supporting documents by owners of residential properties on or before May 22.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not intend to extend this deadline,\u201d he said as it was necessary to assess the rental values and determine the applicable property taxes, so that tax collection can begin.<\/p>\n<p>Due to postponement of this taxation over the last seven years, he said the government has lost over $2.5 billion,\u201d adding that the property tax on residential properties will be used to assist local government bodies with their cash flow, and as the property tax collection system evolves, other categories of property tax will be considered for devolution to local government.<\/p>\n<p>On the issue of the twin island republic\u2019s shortage of natural gas, the finance Minister said\u00a0 first gas from the Dragon field could be obtained during the 2019 to 2020 period.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is envisaged that a new pipeline would be constructed from the Dragon Field to the Hibiscus Platform, which is already connected by pipeline to Atlantic\u2019s LNG facilities in Point Fortin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that a separate connector pipeline would also be built at Pt Lisas to supply gas for downstream Petrochemical industries.<\/p>\n<p>Imbert also said that at this time there would be no change in the current TT$6.75 exchange rate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will work in tandem with the Central Bank to ensure that there is an orderly exchange rate regime, based on foreign exchange inflows and the demand for foreign exchange, with a suitable focus on the facilitation of exports. There will be no drastic or sudden depreciation of the currency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"antig-3764005324\" class=\"antig-in-comments_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/@hadeedmotorsltd\" aria-label=\"Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Government\u2019s revenue for the year has been revised upward from TT$47.2 billion (One TT dollar =US$0.16 cents) to $48 billion due to an expected increase of $575 million from income taxes from petroleum companies. Finance Minister Colm Imbert made the revelation as he presented his mid-year review of the budget in Parliament on Wednesday. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Government\u2019s revenue for the year has been revised upward from TT$47.2 billion (One TT dollar =US$0.16 cents) to $48 billion due to an expected increase of $575 million from income taxes from petroleum companies. Finance Minister Colm Imbert made the revelation as he presented his mid-year review of the budget in Parliament on Wednesday. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-12T02:05:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-23T17:36:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"409\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-12T02:05:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-23T17:36:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/\"},\"wordCount\":803,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:409\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Regional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/\",\"name\":\"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:409\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-12T02:05:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-23T17:36:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:409\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:409\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg\",\"width\":409,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection","og_description":"The Government\u2019s revenue for the year has been revised upward from TT$47.2 billion (One TT dollar =US$0.16 cents) to $48 billion due to an expected increase of $575 million from income taxes from petroleum companies. Finance Minister Colm Imbert made the revelation as he presented his mid-year review of the budget in Parliament on Wednesday. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2017-05-12T02:05:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-07-23T17:36:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":409,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection","datePublished":"2017-05-12T02:05:47+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-23T17:36:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/"},"wordCount":803,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:409\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg","articleSection":["Regional"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/","name":"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:409\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg","datePublished":"2017-05-12T02:05:47+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-23T17:36:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:409\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:409\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Anr-Colm-Imbert-1.jpg","width":409,"height":300},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/trinidad-government-to-focus-on-revenue-collection\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TRINIDAD-Government to focus on revenue collection"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}