The Tribune

ON Wednesday, March 12, the employees of 17 Bahamian businesses shed their office wear in favour of brightly coloured tee-shirts to support The Coalition for Responsible Taxation (the Coalition). Called ‘WakeUp Wednesday’, the promotional push united employees of participating businesses and reminded others to raise their voices on the upcoming implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT).

The T-shirts highlighted the WakeUp Bahamas petition website: www.wakeupbahamas.com which urges the delay of VAT until implications and alternatives are researched. Persons can also sign hard-copy petitions at participating local businesses.

The Coalition is comprised of more than 20 major industry associations in the Bahamas, representing 700 businesses and 60,000 employees. Coalition volunteer, Lana Brogdon said: “The WakeUp Bahamas Campaign has been very successful so far and has generated thousands of petition signatures in support of delaying a decision on VAT. However more signatures are required.”

The Coalition has also commissioned Oxford Economics, one of the world’s foremost global advisory firms, to conduct independent economic forecasting and modelling, to produce a final recommendation for government consideration.