Dominica to introduce 10% flat income tax as St Lucia secures Taiwan housing loan

ROSEAU, Dominica. Dominica will replace its personal income tax rates of 15, 25 and 35 per cent with a single flat rate of 10 per cent from January 1, 2027, Finance Minister Irving McIntyre has announced.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has suggested that personal income tax could be abolished altogether by 2028, citing his long-standing opposition to the tax.

He said rates stood at 20, 35 and 40 per cent when the Dominica Labour Party took office in 2000, and that the government later raised the tax threshold from EC$12,000 (US$4,440) a year to EC$30,000 (about US$11,111).

"For me personally, I'm not an income tax person, I do not like income tax," Skerrit said.

Relief for workers

McIntyre said the government has steadily reduced the tax burden since completing an IMF-supported programme in 2009, taking thousands of Dominicans out of the income tax system.

"We increased mortgage deductions from EC$15,000 on property to EC$30,000 and EC$15,000 on a first and second property respectively," he said. "We allowed deductions for student loans, home, and medical insurance."

"Today, despite a global environment marked by economic uncertainty, this government will again provide relief to further empower the hardworking people of Dominica," McIntyre said.

St Lucia housing finance

St Lucia's government has secured a US$20 million (EC$54 million) financing facility between the St Lucia Development Bank and Taiwan Eximbank, which Prime Minister Philip J Pierre called the largest housing investment in the country's history.

The agreement was signed recently at the bank's headquarters.

"And for the first time, the government is guaranteeing, for a bank, a substantial investment, with the support of a foreign financial institution, which is the EXIM Bank of Taiwan," Pierre said.

The facility aims to expand affordable housing for low and middle-income families through greater access to long-term mortgages at suitable rates. Pierre said it will prioritise first-time buyers and groups often excluded from traditional lending.

"There is a housing deficit in this country, and that is an understatement," he said.

He drew a distinction between affordable and low-cost housing, saying the programme is aimed at people who lack the income required by conventional lenders but are willing and able to meet their loan obligations.