PM: The Tax Amnesty has failed. “Please pay your taxes”

Published on February 2, 2026

Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has appealed to taxpayer and in particular the business companies owing government taxes to please pay up.

Mr. Pierre admitted that the Tax Amnesty has failed: “I must tell you that we are not getting the results we expected from the Tax Amnesty. The Government has been very generous”.

The Prime Minister revealed that ““The Government will have to look at other means of collecting the taxes that are owed to the Government of Saint Lucia”

He noted that “VAT is held in Trust, PAYE is in Trust, Health and Security Levy is in Trust. This has to be remitted to the Government of Saint Lucia”.

Mr Pierre told journalists at the January 26th press briefing that money collected on behalf of the government was not forwarded to the Treasury. ““It was not remitted. We waive all the interest and all the penalties much to the disgust of international financial institutions.”

“We are calling on the people of Saint Lucia who owe the government taxes please pay your taxes”.

Mr. Pierre admitted the tax amnesty has not produced the anticipated results: “We’re very disappointed. We’re into budget discussions now and we have to decide where we’re going as far as that’s concerned”.

Despite the disappointment that Prime Minister revealed that he will be announcing more tax relief at the next sitting of Parliament.

Mr. Pierre disclosed that the Health and Security Levy has generated between 40-45 million dollars but revealed “that is not even enough to pay salaries for the year of police officers”.

The police recently recruited 94 new police officers.