Independent Senator James Jardine yesterday called on Government not to raise taxes on businesses in the absence of a full tax review.And he called for a detailed five-year strategic plan for the Country’s finances in order to get on top of spending and debt.“Most of the local businesses are struggling, at best, to keep themselves afloat and many in fact are having great difficulty. So to introduce a corporate tax at this time without making a radical change to the entire tax structure makes no sense at all,” he said.“And if we think we can levy more tax on the international business, I don’t think they will be too amused with that either — as we found out when we tried to raise payroll tax rates two or three years ago.”As for suggestions that Bermuda should introduce a VAT or GST tax, the Senator said that would present an unacceptable burden on the average Bermudian.Sen Jardine was speaking during the Upper Chamber’s budget debate.He went on to address “unsustainable” Government spending and said, in addition to establishing the SAGE Commission, Government should set up a budget review committee to scrutinise the 2013/14 budget and present new budget estimates in the summer.“We are not the United States or Europe,” he said. “We cannot simply sit here and print money, nor do we have the ability to tax a huge population of millions of people or many large corporations generating significant amounts of profit.”The Senator said he was surprised to see that Government had only reduced by five percent the budget for items such as professional services, transport, travel and training.“Those expenses alone come to $156 million and they’ve only been reduced by five percent from the levels of 2013, and they are still 40 percent higher than they were in 2004,” he said.“There must be expenditures in these categories that can be eliminated for 2014. For example, professional services of $89 million contain $35 million of consulting fees. Is all this consulting really necessary in 2014? Is all the travel really necessary?”Cost-cutting measures could also be applied to the quangos which employ about 2,000 people, or 36 percent, on the taxpayers’ payroll, Sen Jardine said.Government should prepare by July 1, a “five-year strategic plan which deals with the financial side of Bermuda Government with specific goals and timelines for cost reduction, revenue generation, external debt repayment, etc.”Senator Jardine continued: “Government should set up a budget review committee to review in detail and question every line item in the budget to see what costs can be further reduced in 2014.“They could then come to us with the revised budget in the beginning of July which we could consider for the rest of the year.”In addition, Sen Jardine said, Government should present budget reports every six months so that the legislators can track performance.He called on Government to set up a special enterprise zone to attract new technology-based businesses and global brands to the Island.And he noted that the Cayman Islands’ Enterprise City is expected to generate 900 new jobs.“Bermuda has great infrastructure, we have lots of space. I understand there’s 30 acres of land allocated near the airport for such a development and nothing has transpired there,” he said.Government should also consider turning BHC, Wedco and BLDC into one super-quango, he suggested.He also suggested that Bermuda follow Cayman’s example and streamline the process for straightforward work permit applications, noting that some work permits in Cayman can be approved by the Chief Immigration Officer.