GWU, UHM insist all tax due must be collected

General Workers Union and the Union Haddiema Maghqudin yesterday insisted the government should do its utmost to curb tax evasion.

The unions were contacted by The Times following comments made by Labour MP Evarist Bartolo in Parliament that the Tax Compliance Unit had become the "tax persecution unit". He complained that aggressive tax collection was becoming a major disincentive for business.

But GWU secretary general Tony Zarb and the UHM's secretary general Gejtu Vella were having none of it. They both held that any tax due must be collected and that war should be waged against those who do not pay up.

"It is not fair that workers should pay every cent under the final settlement system while others pay very little or nothing at all. It is tax evaders who benefit from amnesties, not the workers," Mr Zarb said.

The GWU, he said, had long been insisting on the need to establish benchmarks for those who are not on a salaried income.

Mr Vella said the UHM was very sensitive to any comments made to justify any form of tax evasion. The comments made by Mr Bartolo "were very much out of tune".

"Workers at that department have a very delicate and sensitive job and merit the protection of all those who believe in social justice and that all forms of abuse in taxation have to be controlled.

"The unit is carrying out its duty in a scrupulous manner so that those companies, professionals, self-employed, or those who in one way or another evade tax, would be controlled," Mr Vella said.

"Professionals who declare they are not earning any money need not worry about being investigated by tax compliance officials if they are genuine.

"Employees pay taxes due through the final settlement system. Tax revenues pay for education, health and many other sectors and there is no justification for anyone to evade tax.

"Politicians should be unanimous in their stand against all forms of abuse including in social services and taxation. Mr Bartolo's comments can be interpreted as providing shelter for those committing wrongdoings to the detriment of those of us who pay all the taxes due.

"The culture that needs to be encouraged is that everyone pays one's dues. In the absence of such a culture, different excuses will be made to undermine the various structures, such as the TCU," Mr Vella said.

Mr Vella said Mr Bartolo's comments jarred, especially when one considered that self-employed persons in Malta declared an average income of just over Lm4,000 - about Lm1,400 below what people working in government departments earn.

"The earnings of the self-employed are very low and speak for themselves. One cannot help express doubts about whether people are declaring what they should declare. When we say that the country is facing problems, let us not just pay lip service. Everybody has to carry part of the burden and we cannot have a situation where we have the sheltered and the unsheltered," Mr Vella said.

He added that information released in Parliament recently showed that out of the 4,142 persons who declared an income of over Lm16,000, only 435 were self-employed and the rest were salaried workers.