The Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, says he has observed a persistent campaign of deliberate misinformation regarding the Property Tax in the public domain.
In a statement issued this morning, Minister Imbert said, “despite many public clarifications, statements in Parliament, full-page advertisements, press releases and press conferences, there is still a misguided belief among some property owners that the Annual Rental Values stated in the Notices of Valuation sent out by the Valuation Division in 2023 are equivalent to the amount of the property tax that will be due and payable in 2024.”
“This is not the case,” he asserted.
The Finance Minister said the Notices of Valuation are not Property Tax Notices.
He explained that Property Tax Notices will be sent out by the Board of Inland Revenue in January 2024, “when it is hoped that the misinformation campaign will cease.”
“It is to be noted that by law, only the Board of Inland Revenue can notify taxpayers regarding the amount of property tax they are required to pay, while the Valuation Division is solely responsible for determining the annual rental value of properties to allow the BIR to calculate the property tax,” he said.
“The Property Tax payable is, in fact, only 2.7% of the Annual Rental Value stated in the Notices of Valuation. So, if a residential property has been assessed at an annual rental value of $60,000.00, the Tax payable is $1,620.00 per year or $135.00 per month. If a property has been assessed at an annual rental value of $18,000, the Tax payable is $486.00, or $40.50 per month,” Minister Imbert explained.
He also pointed out that the property tax for more than 60% of all properties in Trinidad and Tobago will be between $486.00 per year ($40.50 per month) and $1,620.00 per year ($135.00 per month).
“To be clear, to understand what their annual Property Tax will be, property owners need to multiply the annual rental value in the Notices they have received by 2.7%,” the finance minister said.
He added: “Property Owners should not allow mischievous persons to mislead them into thinking that the annual rental values and the applicable property taxes are the same.”