The Tribune

Financial Secretary John Rolle slammed opponents of VAT’s implementation in the Bahamas who circulated a 15-minute video about what they claim is the disastrous impact this form of taxation had on the economy of St Kitts and Nevis.

Rolle called the video misleading and said that the St Kitts economy is on the rebound due in no small part to the country’s decision to introduce VAT into its system of taxation.

“The economic issues facing St Kitts were there before the implementation of VAT,” Rolle said.

“As a matter of fact, that county’s economy is now recovering because of the establishment of this new tax regime.”

Rolle pointed out that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), after it concluded a visit to St Kitts on January 31, said that the country’s fiscal position has substantially improved from a deficit of 7.8 per cent of GDP in 2010 to a projected surplus of 8.6 percent in 2013.

The IMF credited the stronger fiscal performance to policy efforts to contain expenditures and strengthen revenues which included the introduction of the Value Added Tax.

“So as you can see, the IMF believes that the implementation of VAT in St Kitts and Nevis was part of the solution to its economic woes, not the reason for it,” Rolle said. “St Kitts suffered drastically from the external shock of the global economic crisis as well bad economic policy and mismanagement. None of this was caused by VAT.”