EDITOR, The Tribune.
The public furor recently when the China State Construction Company purchased the British Colonial is interesting, as one looks at the diminished state of the Bahamas today.
Those who wish to complain should take a second look, and consider how much better off this country and its people might be, if we turned the entire country over to the Chinese to run and manage.
The news-media today is a comedy, other than the uncontrollable crime.
On Friday, John Rolle is bemoaning the very meagre sign up for VAT, (as if he doesn’t understand) and today we have the Government’s Bank Manager, the Minister of State for Finance and the Prime Minister himself telling the story that John Rolle just doesn’t get. Just one, of the several Banks in the Bahamas is transferring one hundred million dollars of non-performing Commercial Loans to another Government Corporation. Non-Performing before Vat and ramped up Business License Fees!
And Leslie Miller says BEC is too broke to purchase vital generating equipment!!
We can’t blame John Rolle really, because the Government itself can’t see that there is no one able to pay additional taxes, and many will fail when they try, and then they will lay off people, further depressing the economy, and they will tell their creditors and bankers “Game Over”.
John Rolle should pick up the nearest stone he can find and squeeze it till blood comes out. “From the stone – not his hand.“
When do we as a country simply say “we have failed” and “we are a failed state”?
We should beg the very organised and economically wise Chinese to step in and take over the Government before the IMF does. They might have more pity on us than the IMF will.
The Chinese are not very fond of corruption and tiefin either so that’s a bonus.
The debacle in Hong Kong showed the wisdom of the Chinese when they told Hong Kongites that ignorant people should not be allowed to vote. How ya think we got where we are today. Yeah ignorant people!. Some might say dumb-donkey people.
MONKEEDOO
Nassau,
November 1, 2014.
Comments
TheMadHatter 9 years, 4 months ago
The VAT itself, coupled with ongoing reductions in duty rates - could actually be a good thing for the Bahamas if it was aimed only at goods and services.
It would add additional revenue by taxing services which are currently not taxed, and it would secure more "goods" revenue due to its "brother's keeper" approach to tax collection. If you don't pay all the VAT you charged to your customers at the end of the month because you claim that you paid some already when your purchased your goods from so-and-so - then so-and-so is now called into question on their total sales figures, and so on etc. It is a good system for stamping out a lot of false reporting.
However, where the VAT will actually kill this country (in the manner you say above) - is BECAUSE the government has said that VAT has to be paid on BEC bills and on fuel purchases at gas stations. Those are costs that multiply up the chain. Additional costs for delivery of supplies and for running meat coolers and for running air conditioning in stores etc - will be passed on as root costs and will make prices go higher than they can be kept down by duty rate reduction. Each time a product changes hands, the cost will be multiplied because of the power and fuel involved in each transaction.
Government needs to seriously reconsider it's decision to apply VAT to fuel and to BEC bills. That is their only mistake.
I predict you will see them reverse course on those two points, and they will say no VAT on electricity and gas and diesel BEFORE THE END OF MARCH at the very latest.
Mark ya calendars and see if the Mad Hatter got sense.
TheMadHatter
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