Opposition finance spokesman Tonio Fenech had not learnt anything from Saturday’s European elections result, Edward Scicluna charged in Parliament.

The Finance Minister was reacting to comments made by Mr Fenech on the government’s financial performance.

Winding up the debate in second reading on the Commissioner for Revenue (Amendment) Bill, Prof. Scicluna said he went to Parliament intending to go soft on the Opposition seeing the drubbing it suffered over the weekend but he could not sit back and listen to such statements as those made by Mr Fenech.

He said Mr Fenech was still using tactics to instil fear by using such words and phrases as “concern”, “provisional tax paid by minimum wage earners” and references to Enemalta.

Mr Fenech had said the previous administration had initiated changes that could make tax collection more efficient. He said the ultimate aim should be to remove the distinction between inland revenue and VAT and arrive instead at a government revenue service.

He intended to go soft on the Opposition after the drubbing it got at the weekend

He said the changes needed to include an element of fairness and equity between those who ran a business and paid tax and those whose tax was cut off at source as PAYE since they were employed.

The government had to be careful not to encourage businesses to be late in paying taxes. There had to be a system in place so that, after a short period of time, defaulting businesses would be alerted.

Mr Fenech said two legal notices, promised by the government in its electoral manifesto and in the Budget, to stop people on minimum wage and pensioners from paying income tax had never materialised. Also, Maltese receiving a British pension were having to pay double tax.

Turning to Enemalta, Mr Fenech said it was worrying that the corporation owed the government €135 million, although it was not clear whether the amount consisted of tax owed for the past year only. It had been said that this would be paid when the Chinese money came in. The truth was that Enemalta’s financial situation was going from bad to worse.

As to government finances, Mr Fenech said these got worse as a result of the €22 million increase in the salaries bill due to the people that were recruited.

European Commissioner Jaoquim Almunia had recently whittled away the amount of State aid that could be given. More than the reduction in fuel prices, this would affect industry. The private sector was borrowing less.

The minister said this was a positive development but it was not. This was not just the case with regard to manufacturing as tourism and other sectors too were affected. Prof. Scicluna said minimum wage earners would be refunded any tax paid under the PAYE system.

The situation at Enemalta would not change until the power station operated on gas. He assured the House that the Labour government would not raise tariffs.

How could Mr Fenech raise doubts and express “concern” regarding the Enemalta financial situation when all Malta knew about the scandalous commissions paid on oil purchases during his tenure of office?

Mr Fenech’s remarks on the double taxation agreement with the UK showed he did not know how it worked because tax would be paid only once.

On EU directives about incentives to industry, Prof. Scicluna said it was a shame that the former finance minister should protest to the Commission only five days before the 2013 elections when he should have tackled the issue much earlier because it had already been on the agenda. The Opposition was now trying to put the blame on the Labour government which had found a fait accompli.

Mr Fenech was not correct because he knew that the government and the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry was trying to find other methods which would help industry remain competitive.

Earlier, former tourism minister Karmenu Vella said he favoured a system under which people could offset what they owed the government with what the government owed them. He said the interests charged on VAT defaults had been dubbed “usury” by the Labour Party in Opposition. The present administration tackled the problems that affected people rather than letting the problems fester.

The Bill was unanimously approved.