Philipsburg:--- Tax Advisor Mr. Max Pandt recently gave a lecture to the Members and guests of the St. Maarten Lions Club during the club's monthly guest speaker evening at the Lions' Den in Suckergarden.The topics for the evening were the role of the College Financieel Toezicht (CFT) and direct and indirect taxes.
For years some countries/entities within the Kingdom of the Netherlands have experienced substantial and structural problems in the area of government finances, which have had far reaching consequences. For this reason it was agreed upon between all countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands to install the CFT.
Mr. Pandt explained that there existed one CFT prior to the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles. Presently there are 2 CFT, one (1) for Curacao and Sint Maarten one (1) for the BES islands, the latter of which Mr. Pandt is currently a member. Mr. Pandt elaborated on the role of CFT which is to supervise compliance with agreements that were made between the Netherlands and the respective countries/entities within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The role of the CFT is particularly aimed at controlling the budgetary process and improving financial management of the respective countries of the former Netherlands Antilles. The CFT also ensures compliance with international standard rules regarding performance of members of Board of Supervisory Directors of government owned companies.
CFT is an independent body of all countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and periodically reports to the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
On the topic of direct and indirect taxes Mr. Pandt elaborated on the difference between direct and indirect taxes, and the fine line between the two taxes. An example given by Mr. Pandt was the turnover tax which is a direct tax however in practice gained the resemblance of an indirect tax given the fact that this tax is often passed on to the consumer.
Our progressive tax system was elaborated upon by Mr. Pandt. A healthy discussion took place amongst Mr. Pandt and the members and guests of the St. Maarten Lions Clubs with regards to finding a balance between the need to generate more income versus implementation of different taxes whilst maintaining our progressive tax system.
