The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney yesterday criticised the Christie administration saying it “failed in titanic proportions” in executing value added tax during the first week of implementation resulting in a “nightmare” for consumers and businesses.

Mr McCartney said he was not surprised that the government was ill prepared to bring the new tax regime into force.

Since VAT’s implementation on January 1, Mr McCartney said there were incomplete and sporadic explanations from government officials, which have left many to interpret the laws as they see fit.

“Both social and traditional media outlets have been flooded with complaints ranging from the apparent lack of consumer protection to the lingering confusions and frustrations felt by a business community struggling to find its footing in the still murky waters of the country’s VAT laws,” Mr McCartney said in a press statement.

“In fact, what few mechanisms were put in place to educate the public and mitigate against the challenges surrounding the new regime have failed miserably.

“The Democratic National Alliance has received countless complaints from Bahamians who have reportedly been unable to reach anyone at the government sponsored VAT hotline, both here in New Providence and on Grand Bahama island.

“And what happened to the proposed government agency that is to be responsible for the collection of VAT revenue? Or the naming of the VAT comptroller?

“Certainly, these administrative issues should have been addressed long before the implementation date.”

Mr McCartney said from the very beginning, the legislation governing the process was challenged, overly complicated and faced countless delays.

He said the government should have used the delays to fine-tune the VAT process with a view to readying it for roll out.

“Instead of using those delays to its advantage the government squandered the additional time, releasing the still unfinalised draft of the VAT regulations just days ahead of the actual implementation.

“Without question, VAT implementation thus far has been a failure of titanic proportions and this government which claimed it was ready to govern on day one, is allowing our country to slowly sink.”

He added that after being promised a reduction in the cost of living, Bahamians now faced drastic increases even on bread basket items, without seeing increases in their salaries and no economic improvement.