Budget 2027:
what’s going up?

The Government’s Budget 2027 moves more of the revenue burden into everyday transactions: overseas digital services, selected imports and electricity consumption above a specified threshold. The household effect turns on which charges apply and how much a person consumes. 1 2 3 4 5

The household bill

A TT$200 overseas digital-services purchase would attract TT$25 in VAT at the proposed 12.5% rate, taking the illustrative total to TT$225 if the supplier adds the tax to that price. The proposed start is 1 March 2027. The tax reaches streaming and other digital or remote services supplied by non-residents. 1

The proposed electricity surcharge starts earlier, on 1 January 2027. It charges five cents for each residential kilowatt-hour above 3,000 in a billing period. Consumption of 3,500 kWh would produce a TT$25 surcharge; 3,000 kWh would produce none. The calculation concerns the surcharge alone, with the existing electricity tariff outside this exercise. 2

Vaping devices and products face a proposed 20% Customs duty. Selected motor vehicle tax rates rise by 100% for classic vehicles, 50% for antique vehicles and 25% for vintage vehicles. Those percentage changes apply to the tax, rather than the entire purchase price. 3 4

Imported alcoholic beverages move towards a value-based duty system, putting greater duties on higher-value imports. Domestic excise rates separately fall by 25%. The combined effect on a particular product depends on its classification and the applicable charge. 5

Business costs have a second route into prices

The petroleum unemployment levy rises from 5% to 8% of taxable petroleum-company profits. Withholding on non-resident distributions moves from 8% to 10%, while qualifying parent-company distributions move from 3% to 5%. A 75% ceiling on carried-forward loss offsets leaves part of chargeable profits exposed to tax even where a business has accumulated losses. 6 7 8

Overseas service payments face a wider withholding scope, expenses incurred to earn exempt income lose their deduction, and selected zero-rated goods shift to VAT-exempt treatment. Exemption leaves no VAT charged at checkout but changes suppliers’ recovery of input tax. That can embed costs earlier in the supply chain. The final retail effect depends on competition, margins and pricing decisions. 9 10 11

The smaller print carries its own costs

A VAT clearance certificate attracts a new TT$100 issuance fee. An outstanding VAT return attracts a TT$100 penalty for every two months it remains outstanding. The proposed false-Customs-declaration penalty doubles from TT$125,000 to TT$250,000, while the maximum employer fine for unpaid employee NIS on summary conviction rises from TT$4,000 to TT$8,000. Customs broker and clerk rules are also to change, with revised fee amounts unspecified in the statement. 12 13 14 15 16

Most measures examined here are proposed for 1 January 2027; overseas digital-services VAT is proposed for 1 March. The Budget Statement sets out the Government’s intended measures. Implementing legislation determines the operative rules. Every measure above links to its source page in the on-site Document Room.