The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Businesses must beware employees exposing them to Value-Added Tax (VAT) penalties by committing fraud, a well-known accountant urging that they enhance their internal controls.

Kendrick Christie, a Grant Thornton (Bahamas) partner and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), told Tribune Businesses that companies should be vigilant and ensure their employees are following the rules once VAT comes into force.

“It may not be the business. It may be an employee who tells the customer that they can charge them for a good minus the VAT. The business has to put in place controls to ensure they are monitoring the persons who represent them. The tendency of consumers is to save, and they may not know when someone is doing something untoward. That is something that needs to be monitored,” Mr Christie explained.

Speaking with Tribune Business at Grant Thornton’s VAT readiness seminar, Mr Christie said there were concerns over general compliance with the rules under VAT. He added that there may be companies who attempt to charge consumers VAT at a rate other than the 7.5 per cent being imposed.

“I think the real cases of fraud would be around businesses that may be trying to charge rates other than the standard rate, hoping that customers are not able to pick it up, or even unregistered businesses charging VAT,” the accountant explained.

“Unregistered businesses cannot charge VAT, but maybe still do, and that VAT is not being remitted to government. It may not be a big occurrence but we want to be vigilant for consumers.”

Mr Christie added: “We all know that this is going to have an effect on the cost of living for middle class and blue collar workers, and so we want to be sure that they are fairly treated.

“We want to ensure that consumers are only being charged VAT on the product or service that they should be charged for, that they are being charged by a registered business and that business is remitting the VAT to the Government and in a timely fashion.”