Households in Trinidad and Tobago that consume more than 3,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per billing period are set to face an additional charge under measures announced in the 2027 national budget. Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo outlined the proposal alongside changes to duties on certain imported alcoholic beverages, with the measures largely scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.<\/p>\n
Under the electricity proposal, a surcharge of five cents per kilowatt-hour will apply only to consumption above the 3,000-kilowatt-hour threshold. Tancoo said the measure would affect approximately 10 per cent of electricity consumers, while the remaining 90 per cent use less electricity than the threshold.<\/p>\n
The Government expects the surcharge to generate an additional $17.8 million annually. Tancoo said it was intended to encourage energy conservation and help finance existing electricity subsidies for households with lower consumption. Consumers below the specified threshold would not be affected by this particular surcharge.<\/p>\n
The budget also proposes a revised customs duty structure for certain imported alcoholic beverages. Instead of calculating customs duties according to volume, the new system would calculate duties according to the value of the product. As a result, higher-value imported alcohol would attract a larger customs duty amount. The change would apply to imports that do not receive preferential treatment under existing trade agreements.<\/p>\n
During the budget presentation, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar asked Tancoo to explain the practical effect of the alcohol measure. He responded that luxury alcohol, including champagne, would cost more. The Government also announced a 25 per cent reduction in applicable excise rates, with the revised rates extended to imported alcoholic beverages.<\/p>\n
Vehicle collectors are also expected to face changes. From January 1, 2027, Motor Vehicle Tax rates are scheduled to increase by 100 per cent for classic vehicles, 50 per cent for antique vehicles and 25 per cent for vintage vehicles. The Government also intends to introduce regulations governing the importation, registration and use of these vehicles. Tancoo said the objective was to support a specialised sector involving restoration, automotive services, cultural events and tourism.<\/p>\n
Other announced measures include a proposed 20 per cent customs duty on vaping devices and related products, alongside an intended prohibition on selling vaping products to people under 21.<\/p>\n
The electricity surcharge and revised import duties form part of a broader revenue-raising package. The stated electricity threshold means the proposed charge is directed at high consumption rather than applying to every household. The measures are scheduled to begin in January 2027, subject to their implementation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
High electricity consumption and luxury imports are set to attract additional charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trinidad-and-tobago"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}