Although the Central Bank recorded a deficit of $202.9 billion or 5.8 percent of GDP, at the end of 2023, Tax Revenue collection soared to $366.6 billion last year.

During the presentation of the 2024 National Budget,  Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh said the collections were aided by strong economic growth

Additionally, the Finance Minister announced that the country’s Internal Revenue collections last year amounted to $227.9 billion or 29.4 percent more than the 2022 collections.

“This performance is primarily due to increased collections from withholding tax, private sector corporation tax and personal income taxes, which together account for $46.3 billion or 89 percent of the improved performance,” the Finance Minister stated.

Further, it was announced that the Withholding Tax increased by $20.6 billion due to intensified operations within the oil and gas sector, while collections from private sector corporations grew by $12.9 billion reflecting improved performances of companies across sectors, particularly construction, manufacturing and services.

Further, the personal income tax category grew by $12.8 billion. This, the Finance Minister said, is primarily due to increases in the number of persons employed as well as higher levels of emoluments in both the private and public sector.

Customs and trade tax collections also saw an increase. This category of tax collection totaled $35 billion, representing an improved performance of 12.6 percent when compared with 2022 collections, primarily attributed to an increase in import duties of $3.3 billion.

Moreover, Value added tax (VAT) and excise tax collections amounted to $103.8 billion, $18.6 billion above 2022 collections.

Dr. Singh said the increased VAT collections were mainly attributed to higher VAT collections of $15.2 billion, reflecting a $5.4 billion increase on imports of goods and services and a $9.8 billion increase in collections from domestically supplied goods. Excise tax collections amounted to $31.7 billion, an 11.8 percent increase above the 2022 level.

Notably, Non-tax revenue collections totaled $15.5 billion, an increase of $5.7 billion when compared with 2022, due largely to higher collections from rent and royalties.

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