Monday, October 8, 2012

Haiti PM Announces Sin Tax to Pay for Education; Will Levy More Taxes on Alcohol, Cigs., Gambling

Haiti's government wants to raise $100 million for a special education fund by putting additional taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling, the Caribbean nation's prime minister said today (October 8, 2012).

According to the ABC News website, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said the new sin tax would require approval from Parliament. He added the money collected would help build 200 schools, refurbish 2,000 more, and train and boost pay for thousands of teachers from primary schools to universities.

The proceeds would go into a government fund that already has gotten almost $34 million with taxes on international phone calls and money transfers, the latter making up about a quarter of Haiti's Gross Domestic Product.

The efforts seek to boost enrollment. Haiti has about 4.5 million school-age children but only about half were attending school before the 2010 earthquake destroyed or damaged thousands of classrooms.

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