{"id":20123,"date":"2019-05-13T09:17:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T05:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/?p=20123"},"modified":"2019-05-13T09:17:16","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T05:17:16","slug":"apres-le-1er-mai-clarte-ou-cacophonie-politique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/apres-le-1er-mai-clarte-ou-cacophonie-politique\/","title":{"rendered":"Apr\u00e8s le 1er mai, clart\u00e9 ou cacophonie politique ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Prakash Neerohoo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Si l\u2019on en croit le leader du MMM, quelque chose d\u2019in\u00e9dit se passera sur la sc\u00e8ne politique locale lors des prochaines \u00e9lections g\u00e9n\u00e9rales pr\u00e9vues pour la fin de 2019 ou le d\u00e9but de 2020. Sa d\u00e9claration au meeting du 1er mai que le MMM ne s\u2019alliera ni au PTr ni au MSM en vue du prochain scrutin national rend tr\u00e8s plausible la perspective d\u2019une lutte \u00e0 trois entre les grands partis traditionnels (PTr, MSM et MMM).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Voil\u00e0 qui a le m\u00e9rite d\u2019apporter une forte dose de clart\u00e9 dans l\u2019imbroglio politique dont le pays ne pouvait sortir jusqu\u2019ici. En effet, les folles rumeurs d\u2019alliances politiques \u00e0 venir, nourries par l\u2019opposition molle du MMM au Parlement o\u00f9 il s\u2019est fait \u00e9clipser par l\u2019opposition agressive du PMSD, pr\u00e9disaient une in\u00e9vitable lutte entre deux blocs politiques (MSM-MMM et PTr-PMSD) lors du prochain scrutin.<\/span><\/p>\n

A moins d\u2019un revirement peu probable, le MMM voudrait mettre fin \u00e0 la bipolarit\u00e9 de l\u2019\u00e9chiquier politique de par sa volont\u00e9 affich\u00e9e d\u2019aller seul aux \u00e9lections, en se pr\u00e9sentant comme une troisi\u00e8me voie entre le PTr et le MSM.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cette perspective obligerait les autres partis (PMSD et Mouvement Patriotique) et groupuscules (notamment les dissidents Obeegadoo-Jeeha et les d\u00e9put\u00e9s dits ind\u00e9pendants) \u00e0 choisir leur camp, \u00e9tant donn\u00e9 qu\u2019ils ne p\u00e8sent pas d\u2019un poids \u00e9lectoral significatif s\u00e9par\u00e9ment.<\/span><\/p>\n

La question est de savoir si le PTr serait la grande tente accueillant tous les adversaires du MSM (comme en 2005) ou si le MSM prendrait sous ses ailes certains de ces petits partis ou groupuscules\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Comment le PTr, le MSM et le MMM se diff\u00e9rencieront-ils politiquement entre eux\u00a0? C\u2019est l\u2019autre question int\u00e9ressante. Id\u00e9ologiquement, ils se r\u00e9clament tous du centre-gauche (la social-d\u00e9mocratie) bien que, une fois arriv\u00e9s au pouvoir, certains pratiquent une politique du centre-droit au niveau \u00e9conomique.<\/span><\/p>\n

S\u2019il y a une diff\u00e9renciation quelconque entre ces trois offres politiques, elle s\u2019exprimera au niveau de la personnalit\u00e9 des leaders pr\u00e9tendants au poste de Premier ministre, de leur moralit\u00e9 et de leur cr\u00e9dibilit\u00e9. Chacun proposera une m\u00e9thode particuli\u00e8re de gouvernance, assortie de promesses les unes plus mirobolantes que les autres. Toutefois, en mati\u00e8re de rupture avec le mod\u00e8le socio-\u00e9conomique existant, on ne voit rien venir des partis traditionnels. C\u2019est plut\u00f4t sur la forme donc que se jouera la prochaine bataille \u00e9lectorale.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seule la gauche, toutes tendances confondues, propose une rupture avec le mod\u00e8le en place, mais quelque chose de dramatique se passe en son sein depuis longtemps. La gauche est divis\u00e9e et elle est travers\u00e9e par des courants id\u00e9ologiques diff\u00e9rents incarn\u00e9s par divers mouvements (Lalit, R\u00e9sistans ek Alternativ, Mouvement Premier Mai) qui n\u2019arrivent pas \u00e0 s\u2019entendre sur une plateforme commune et parler d\u2019une seule voix sur les questions fondamentales.<\/span><\/p>\n

Certainement, les animateurs de ces diff\u00e9rents courants ne manquent pas de bonne volont\u00e9 mais il y a apparemment des conflits de personnalit\u00e9s qui les emp\u00eachent d\u2019unir leurs forces. On l\u2019a vu lors de l\u2019\u00e9lection partielle de Quatre-Bornes o\u00f9 Jack Bizlall et RA ont fait chacun cavalier seul, divisant ainsi les voix de la gauche.<\/span><\/p>\n

Un autre mouvement de tendance progressiste vient de se transformer en parti politique (100% Citoyens) pour offrir quelque chose de nouveau avec les primaires citoyens pour la s\u00e9lection de candidats, ce qui rel\u00e8ve d\u2019une certaine forme de d\u00e9mocratie directe. Par ailleurs, les divers groupes \u00e9cologistes exercent une certaine influence sur les d\u00e9bats de fond en leur capacit\u00e9 de force de proposition. Ces groupes \u00e9cologistes sont en marge de la politique mais ils prennent des initiatives citoyennes salutaires Tout compte fait, dans le camp progressiste, il existe une cacophonie id\u00e9ologique et intellectuelle dans laquelle les mauriciens ne s\u2019y reconnaissent plus. Si elle veut \u00eatre une voix pertinente et cr\u00e9dible aux prochaines \u00e9lections, la gauche plurielle devrait parler d\u2019une seule voix.<\/span><\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The MRA under fire<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Among the \u201cpoints de rupture\u201d announced by the Labour leader at the May 1st<\/sup> public meeting, there is one that has hardly been reported in the media. It is the suggestion that the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA), under a Labour-led government, would not be authorised to raise a tax assessment on a taxpayer for a period longer than one year. Overwhelmed by the slew of promises announced, the media pushed off the radar this particular suggestion, which has far-reaching public policy implications as it impacts one of the five principles of taxation (fairness).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Before looking at the merits of this proposal, let us set the policy context. The fiscal policy of any government, which is about raising tax revenue to fund public expenditure, depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of tax policy. A sound tax system is founded on five basic principles:<\/span><\/p>\n

(1) Simplicity: the rules are to be simple enough to allow easy compliance;<\/span><\/p>\n

(2) Balance: raising tax revenue from multiple sources such as income, property and consumption;<\/span><\/p>\n

(3) Certainty: taxpayers must know how much tax they have to pay and when;<\/span><\/p>\n

(4) Stability: after-tax income must be stable to ride out good and bad economic times; and<\/span><\/p>\n

(5) Fairness: ensuring a fair sharing of the tax burden among taxpayers.<\/span><\/p>\n

In most developed countries, where the tax system is based on self-assessment (i.e., voluntary reporting by taxpayers), the Statute of Limitations prescribes a statute-barred period of 3 to 4 years for raising a tax assessment on a particular taxpayer (individual or corporation). This means that the tax authority can review the taxpayer\u2019s records for a maximum of 4 years to reassess tax in the event that a compliance issue is discovered in a particular year. However, tax laws in those countries allow the tax authority to waive wholly or partly the amount of tax assessed on grounds of economic hardship in prescribed circumstances (for instance, if the assessment would cause personal or corporate bankruptcy).<\/span><\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s proposal to limit the MRA\u2019s ability to assess tax on a taxpayer to one year only might sound popular with taxpayers, as it was probably conceived following feedback received from some taxpayers who have been audited by the MRA. However, this proposal, if it were to be implemented, would constrain the tax authority\u2019s capacity to recover tax from those taxpayers who evaded tax for many years by misreporting, under-reporting or not reporting all sources of income.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is at stake here is the principle of fairness, which requires that every taxpayer pays their fair share of tax based on their income in return for free services (health, education, etc.) provided by the State. Compliant taxpayers, i.e., those who report their full income from different sources every year, would bear the burden of taxation disproportionately if non-compliant taxpayers were allowed to evade tax for years and then be held responsible for only one year\u2019s liability when caught.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mauritius is already a low-tax jurisdiction where the personal and corporate income tax is low, at a rate of 15% across the board. To optimize fiscal revenue, the MRA should be able to recover any amount of tax that is duly owed to the State for the past 3 to 4 years. The MRA should have the flexibility to enforce tax compliance, subject to the taxpayer\u2019s right to object to and\/or appeal an assessment through the Court system. Tax evaders who have accumulated untaxed income for years and invested in expensive real property and luxury cars (visible indicators of wealth) would be too happy to get off the hook by paying off one year\u2019s liability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reducing the statute-barred period to one year for tax assessment would be falling short of the generally acceptable standard of limitations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

* Published in print edition on 10 May 2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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