Trinidad and Tobago

The Corporation Tax Act was amended to provide for the following:

Apprenticeship allowance: Where in a year of income commencing from 1st January 2023, a company incurs expenditure in the hiring of a young person who has completed secondary education for an apprenticeship training programme with that company, there shall be allowed as a deduction, in ascertaining the chargeable profits of the company for that year of income, an allowance equal to one hundred and fifty per cent (150%) of the actual expenditure incurred, up to a maximum of twenty per cent (20%) of the total wages and salaries bill of the company for that year of income.

 A company qualifies for an allowance under this section where—

 (a) the apprenticeship training programme instituted by the company is registered with the National Training Agency; and

 (b) the period of the apprenticeship training programme is not more than one year

 Approved small company exemption: Exemption of an approved small company as defined in the Corporation Tax Act from the payment of corporation tax for a period of six years commencing 1st January 2023. The relevant Section has been amended to replace all references to the “Small Business Development Company Limited” and “Industrial Development Corporation” with the words “designated entity”.

 The Minister of Finance by Order and made subject to the negative resolution of Parliament shall identify entities to be considered a “designated entity”

 Tax credit for manufacturing companies: Where an approved manufacturing company incurs expenditure in the year 2023 in acquiring:

(a) new machinery;

(b) new production lines; or

(c) new equipment

 That approved manufacturing company is entitled to a one-time tax credit of fifty thousand dollars (TTD50,000) for the expenditure incurred in the year 2023.

 The Minister with responsibility for Trade and Industry shall certify a company as an approved manufacturing company

 Tax credit for E-Money Issuers and Payment Service Providers: Where in the year of income 2023, an E-Money Issuer (“EMI”) company or a Payment Service Provider (“PSP”) company incurs expenditure in —

(a) the acquisition of equipment;

(b) intellectual property related to software outsourcing and creation;

(c) product development;

(d) web development;

e) security and maintenance;

(f) hosting;

(g) regulatory costs; or

(h) bank settlement fees

 that EMI company or PSP company is entitled to a tax credit of fifty thousand dollars for the expenditure incurred in that year of income only.

 For the purposes of this amendment— “EMI company” means a company which falls within the category of entities outlined in clause 3(1)(a) to (e) of the E-Money Issuer Order, 2020 and is registered as an e-money issuer under that Order.

 “e-money issuer” has the meaning assigned to it under the E-Money Issuer Order, 2020;

“payment service” has the meaning assigned to it under the E-Money Issuer Order, 2020; 

 “PSP company” means a company which falls within the category of entities outlined in clause 3(1)(a) to (e) of the E-Money Issuer Order, 2020 and is registered as a payment service provider by the Central Bank, established under the Central Bank Act.”

Petroleum Taxes Act

The Petroleum Taxes Act was amended to provide for the following:

Petroleum profits tax (“PPT”) rate: The PPT rate for petroleum operations in deepwater was decrease from 35 per cent to 30 per cent.

Supplemental petroleum taxes (“SPT”):

 Investment tax credit - The investment tax credit on qualifying capital expenditure in respect of:

(a) approved development activity in mature marine oil fields;

(b) approved development activity in mature land oil fields; or

(c) the acquisition of machinery and plant for use in approved enhanced oil recovery projects

 has been increased from twenty-five per cent to thirty per cent.

 Small Onshore Producers – The sunset clause on the non-applicability of SPT on small onshore producers where the weighted average crude oil price is US$75.00 per barrel or less has been removed thereby extending the regime beyond the financial years 2021 and 2022. Also, the definition of “small onshore producer” has been amended to  increase the production limit of a small onshore producer from less than two thousand barrels of crude oil per day to less than four thousand barrels of crude oil per day.

Petroleum operations in a new field in shallow marine areas - The Base SPT rate was decreased from 25% to 20% in respect of petroleum operations in a new field in shallow marine areas where the weighted average crude oil price is between U.S. $90.01 and U.S. $200.00 per barrel.

Petroleum Operations in a new well in an existing field in shallow marine areas – The introduction of a separate SPT regime in respect of petroleum operations in a new well in an existing field in shallow marine areas. It is computed and fixed as follows:

(a) where the weighted average crude oil price is USD $50.00 per barrel or less, no tax is chargeable;

(b) where the weighted average crude oil price is between USD$50.01 and US$70.00 per barrel,  the tax is chargeable is 15%

(c) where the weighted average crude oil price is between USD$70.01 and US$90.00 per barrel,  tax is chargeable is 20%

(d) where the weighted average crude oil price is between USD. $90.01 and USD $200.00 per barrel, the tax is chargeable is is based on the following sliding scale:

 SPT rate = Base SPT rate + 0.2% (P – U.S. $90.00)

Base SPT rate = Column “D” New Well in Existing Field – 20%

SPT = Supplemental Petroleum Tax

P = Weighted average crude oil price in USD.

This separate SPT regime  shall apply in respect of new wells in existing fields in shallow marine areas that have been approved and certified for development by the Minister to whom responsibility for petroleum has been assigned.

For the purposes of this amendment —

 “existing field” means a field that produced oil before 1^st January 2023;

 “new well” means a well that was not producing oil before 1st January 2023.

Value Added Tax Act

Schedule 2 of the Value Added Tax Act was amended to include the following as zero rated (i.e. VAT at 0%):

New equipment for a manufacturing company which utilises alternate energy technologies and renewable energy options, as certified by the Minister with responsibility for energy.

For the purposes of this item, “renewable energy options” includes —

(a) gasifiers using biomass; and

(b) renewable energy harness using wind, solar or water.

This item expires on 31st December 2023

Legal Notices 1, 2 and 3 of 2023.

By way of Legal Notice 1, 2 and 3 of 2023 dated January 6, 2023, Value Added Tax, Customs Duty and Online Purchase Tax, have been removed from CCTV cameras and Digital Video Recorders (DVR) used in CCTV systems, as stand-alone items, effective from January 1, 2023.

Tax Amnesty Extension

By way of Legal Notices, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has announced the extension of a tax amnesty deadline to 31 August 2023.

The tax amnesty provides for a waiver of certain liabilities (interest and penalties), where outstanding returns are filed, and outstanding taxes are remitted to the Inland Revenue Division by 31 August 2023.

The tax amnesty covers all prior tax periods up to 31 December 2021. Where a tax or return remains outstanding after 31 August 2023, the interest and penalty which would have been payable on the outstanding tax or return shall be revived and become payable as if the waiver in subsection had not been granted.

The following taxes and levies are covered under the tax amnesty:

•  Business Levy
• Club Gaming Tax
• Corporation Tax
• Gaming Amusement Tax
• Green Fund Levy
• Health Surcharge
• Individual Income Tax
• Pay-As-You-Earn
• Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT)
• Property Tax (Arrears from Lands & Buildings Taxes and Municipal Corporations Taxes Act, Part V)
• Stamp Duty
• Supplemental Petroleum Tax
• Unemployment Levy
• Value Added Tax
• Withholding Tax