Govt tax breaks trumps NDP’s promised VAT cuts – Camillo
MINISTER OF FINANCE, Camillo Gonsalves, is of the firm view that the government’s tax initiatives and other adjustments that would allow workers to keep more money in their pockets are far superior to what they will save as a result of the promised cut by the New Democratic Party (NDP), in the Value Added Tax (VAT). Speaking to some of the financial policies contained in the national manifesto of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) at its launch at Colonaire on Sunday, November 16, 2025, Gonsalves said: “The ULP manifesto brings plans and programmes for the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines”. He provided a comparative view by way of an example.
“We have in this manifesto a commitment to reduce income tax to 22%, and a commitment to raise the threshold before which you don’t pay taxes to 30- thousand dollars. A proposal like that makes a difference in the pockets of working people in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Gonsalves told the crowd at the mass rally at the Irvin Warrican Playing Field.
He noted that the opposition
is saying they will reduce VAT from 16%-13% “and they say that means that they will slash prices,” but the finance minister told those at the rally to take a close look at the “gimmicks, versus policies meant to uplift you”, as the VAT cut sounds like a big slash.
“If you spend $100 at the supermarket and everything you buy is vat-able it means that 86 dollars that you spend right now is on your groceries and $14 is on VAT. If the NDP implements their plan and you spend the same $100 at the supermarket it will mean that you spend 88 dollars on your groceries and pay 12- dollars in VAT, so the difference will be two dollars. And if you spend 3-hundred dollars at the supermarket under the NDP plan you go save six- dollars …and they say that means that they slashing prices? reduce, yes, but slash- no,” Gonsavles noted, as he moved to outline what it will mean for workers under the ULP’s plan to reduce income tax and increase the tax threshold above which no personal income tax will be paid.
“If you are a Constable in the police, our plan will earn you an extra 15-hundred dollars a year in your salary. That is more than a hundred dollars a month on your pay cheque before we increase your salary, and we will increase your salary. So, if you are a Constable and you make 25-hunded dollars a month you will not pay a dollar in income tax under the plans in this manifesto,” Gonsalves stated, as he held up a copy of the document.
“And if you were a Constable and you took your entire pay cheque of 25-hundred dollars and you took it to the supermarket… and everything you buy is vat-able at the supermarket… under their plan you will save about 38-dollars, but under our plan you will make over 100-dollars. And if you are a Teacher- 3 or a staff nurse our plan will save you over 2-thousand dollars a year in your pocket. And if you are a social worker you will get over 3-thousand dollars a year in your pocket and every single worker under our plan will pay reduced taxes and get more money in their pocket, and everybody making 25-hundred dollars or less will not pay not even one cent in income tax and that is how we will put more money in your pocket – In addition to reducing VAT on selected items, and in addition to increasing your salary and in addition to increasing the minimum wage.
“Our plan puts more money in your pocket than the gimmicks of the New Democratic Party”. Among the four things the NDP is promising to do within its first 60 days in government is to slash prices by reducing VAT from 16% to 13%, removing it entirely from domestic electricity to tackle the high cost of living.
The finance minister also spoke to claims that the incumbent administration had done nothing about the levels of unemployment. He pointed to specific numbers of jobs created in several areas of the economy at both the public sector and private sector levels, and noted that the ULP plans to create another 6-thousand jobs in a new five year term.
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