On Saturday 12th August, the Ministry of Finance stated that based on representation and requests made by members of the general public, the Minister of
Finance recently authorised the Board of Inland Revenue to pay all individual income tax refunds of up to $20,000 or less.

The Minister said the Board has advised him that 33,466 tax refund cheques have been printed and are being enveloped and batched for delivery through TTPost.

The statement said over 30,000 taxpayers should thus expect to receive their individual income tax refund cheques in the mail within the next week.

The UNC though, has questioned the timing of the cheques, stating “Since when does the Ministry work on a Saturday? Why couldn’t the Ministry release this information on Monday, the next working day? This is a blatant and scandalous use of State resources for electioneering purposes. While we welcome all quick and legitimate payments to citizens, we condemn the withholding of these funds by the PNM, only to use for election bribery.”