Bahamians must get used to companies increasingly cutting them off for non-payment due to Value-Added Tax’s (VAT) cash flow impact, a well-known businessman warned yesterday.
Robert Myers, the former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman, told Tribune Business that cash flow was “the biggest killer’” for many businesses in a post-VAT environment.
With the new 7.5 per cent levy adding to already-high operating costs, Mr Myers warned that companies could not afford to ‘carry’ the VAT that should have been paid on purchases by delinquent customers.
Emphasising that Bahamians have “historically been poor payers”, Mr Myers said VAT’s effects meant companies would have to manage their accounts receivables “far more intently” to ensure they were not lumbered with an unfair tax burden.
Such an aggressive approach, he revealed, had already “cost” his landscaping firm clients, who had seen their accounts suspended after payments went into arrears for between 30-60 days.
Mr Myers explained that if companies had to ‘carry’ VAT that should have been paid by clients, they would have less cash flow available to purchase inventory, which in return reduces sales and creates a ‘vicious cycle’ for the private sector.
“Customers are going to have to recognise that we’re going to be far more like the US with regards to accounts receivables,” Mr Myers told Tribune Business, implying that Bahamians must also be accustomed to being ‘cut-off’ earlier.
“If you don’t pay your Amex (American Express) bill, you are cut off the next day. They shut you down. You really have to manage your accounts receivables.”
He added: “Cash flow is the biggest killer right now, and the biggest challenge for businesses is managing it, as you have to give the Government the [VAT] money whether the client has paid it or not.
“That’s made it very tricky to balance out where you are going to spend your money. Whether or not you’ve been paid by clients, you need to pay VAT. That, in a lot of cases, is cutting into inventory spend, and when you reduce inventory you reduce sales, and that hurts your top line.
“You have this knock-on effect which is very difficult to manage. It’s very tricky, having to pay these things out and not receiving payment from your customers.”
Mr Myers said VAT-registrant businesses did not have the luxury of taxes non-payment because they would then be exposed to a variety of sanctions and penalties imposed by the Government.
“I think customers in the Bahamas have historically been poor payers. They don’t necessarily pay on time or in full,” he told Tribune Business.
“I’m telling you this because I’m feeling it in our garden centre. It’s a very difficult balance between paying electricity, Business Licence and VAT, and buying materials and keeping the business running. It’s very challenging.”
Mr Myers said that while his construction business was somewhat shielded from this by the upfront deposits, and stage payments, that are typical of the sector, his landscaping company was less fortunate.
There, work had to be completed before the client paid, while large upfront deposits were not the norm.
“I just think that’s what going to happen is that Bahamian businesses, and this is definitely what we’re doing, are going to have to manage their accounts receivables far more intently,” Mr Myers said.
“It’s cost us. We’re bugging people to get paid, and saying we’ll suspend their accounts if they go into 30-60 days’ arrears, because we can’t afford to pay out VAT and other expenses if we’re not getting paid.
“That’s not good for business as you’re p clients off. We’ve lost a couple of jobs as we’ve got harder on accounts receivables. They’ve not paid us, and we’ve suspended the work and sent the crews home. It’s definitely had an impact on the way we run our business, and business generally,” he added.
“That’s the challenge and we have to deal with that. The law is the law. We have to meet that challenge.
“We haven’t had any relief from Business Licence fees, electricity prices. Fortunately, we’ve had a bit of relief on fuel prices. That’s been helpful, but not enough.”
Comments
SP 8 years, 11 months ago
.......................................... Robert Myers Talking Pure Caca .........................................
This is the genius that was chosen as Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman?
Absolute, total nonsense. Companies are not obligated to government, and VAT is not payable until AFTER business's actually receive customers payments. Transactions does not attract VAT until the merchant actually receives payment be they 90 or 300 days delayed.
What's "tricky" is how someone so widely known as a shyster, lacking any business ethics and a complete full blown clown like Robert Myers was ever positioned as Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman!
B_I_D___ 8 years, 11 months ago
Correction...VAT is calculated at the time the invoice is cut...has NOTHING to do with when the customer actually pays. The day that invoice is cut, it falls in that periods VAT payables to government.
SP 8 years, 11 months ago
.............. See Below Post For Full Official Clarity On This Issue .............
B_I_D___ 8 years, 11 months ago
As a monthly VAT payee...I sell something to a customer on May 15th...that customer has an account with us that is payable on the 30th of June. Regardless of when that customer pays his bill, that VAT I registered on the invoice cut on May 15th is calculated and payable to the Government in my May returns. The customer may never pay that invoice, but believe you me, I have already been mandated to pay the government their take in my May returns.
John 8 years, 11 months ago
Stores that sell items that go stale or obsolete have an even bigger problem. They are now paying customs duties and VAT on items they may have to dump. So the only way to recover is to reduce the amount of inventory and increase their prices. Some stores tried to absorb the VAT in their existing prices rather than add it on. Now three months in. They are finding they didn't have money to pay VAT because they were selling at a loss.
SP 8 years, 11 months ago
.................... "The Bahamas VAT Guide Version 4: December 23, 2014" .......................
What if my customer has not paid me?
"If you are on the Invoice or accrual accounting basis, you must still declare the sale in the VAT period in which the time of supply occurred. When you write off the amount owed in your records you can make an adjustment by claiming as input tax the amount previously declared as output tax".
"If you subsequently receive payment from your customer you must make the necessary adjustments to your VAT Return."
"If you are on the cash accounting basis, you should only report sales for which you were paid."
http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/wps/wcm/con...">http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/wps/wcm/con...
DavidCM 8 years, 11 months ago
Small business, under $1M annual turnover, are already on cash accouting. See VAT News and Press Report 118 below:
All Small Businesses Placed on Simplified VAT Returns Scheme Authored by: Ministry of Finance Source: Value Added Tax Department Date: March 16, 2015
NEWS AND PRESS RELEASE All Small Businesses Placed on Simplified VAT Returns Scheme
Many can also request to use the Flat Rate Scheme
March 15, 2015 (Nassau, Bahamas) – The VAT Comptroller has now approved all small businesses with $1 million or less in revenues to use the Cash Accounting Scheme.
"These business do not need to take any other steps to use this simplified approach to complete their returns," said a VAT Department spokesperson. "It will be available when they submit their first return in April." Most registrants have reported annual sales of $1 million or less, and will therefore be able to benefit from this process. Effective immediately, they are all placed on the Cash Accounting Scheme. If a business insists, it can go back to using accrual accounting, although it is not expected that this option will be chosen often. Under cash accounting businesses get to claim VAT credits for actual bills paid or purchases made, and their liability for VAT owed to the government is only based on collections from customers as opposed to bills issued. The filing process for cash accounting uses two pieces of information. The business must report total sales (including the VAT) based on actual payments collected from customers. They must also report total amounts paid (including VAT) for imports and for purchases from other VAT registrants. The difference between these two values, when multiplied by the VAT fraction of 3/43 will give the net amount owed to the government or the refund that might be due. A further simplification is that most businesses with revenues under $400,000 per annum can also request to use the Flat Rate Scheme. The amount of VAT due to the government would be just 4.5 percent of collected revenue. In requesting to use this scheme the business must decide whether it would benefit from having less VAT to remit to the government on a regular basis than if it used another accounting method. However, licensees of the Grand Bahama Port Authority cannot use the Flat Rate Scheme. These businesses do not have to pay VAT on the same range of purchases as registrants elsewhere in the Bahamas and therefore their net returns cannot be reliably estimated this way. "Now we will be issuing more tailored instructions to help businesses complete these simplified returns," said the VAT Department spokesperson. For more information visit www.bahamas.gov.bs/VAT or look up VATBahamas on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. To contact the VAT Department directly, please send an email to vat@bahamas.gov.bs or call VAT Taxpayer Services at (242) 225-7280.
White_Massa 8 years, 11 months ago
THE WHITE MASSA TELLS THE PLANTATION SLAVES TO GET USED TO THE OTHER WHITE MASSA - ROBERT MYERS - CUTTING THEM OFF DUE TO NON PAYMENT
THE WHITE MASSA HAS AN EXCUSE NOW.
White_Massa 8 years, 11 months ago
"FNM WANTED VAT IN 2-3 YEARS", TRIBUNE242.COM 1/25/13
Weezie 8 years, 11 months ago
I hate when people talk and are so mis-informed. SP spends so much mindless energy attacking Robert Myers that his very first comment was total and absolute horse s**t. VAT is payable when you bill a customer....not when they pay. And that is causing cash flow problems for businesses. I run a business (clearly, unlike SP) and that is causing a cash flow problem for me. Bottom line: Robert Myers is right and you are totally and completely wrong. So, I suggest you shut up until you know what you are talking about. Mr. Myers keep talking your talk! I know that you were at the table when VAT was being introduced and you fought long and hard for us business people! I certainly hope you pay no attention to those retards who speak on subjects they know nothing about.
SP 8 years, 11 months ago
............ People living in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones ............
Yet another dumbass following Meyers, despite irrefutable evidence provided above, quoted directly from the provided VAT website link.
The VAT Act clearly provides recourse for delinquent and or non-payments of invoices.
Is it that you cannot comprehend what you read, or are you just stupid?
For the record Sir Dumbass, I own several business's and have done so for 18 years!
The correct term is "Exposing" rather than "Attacking" your massa.
Would you like explicit details of your massa Robert Meyers shady real estate dealings to expats in Abaco? Government would!
Perhaps you prefer to know more about pirate Meyers escapades at failed attempts of manipulating shareholders shares?
Mindless aye? .... You and your massa best sit small and STFU!
Weezie 8 years, 11 months ago
SP - why are you so vicious? You could say what you want to say without all the black/white bulls**t. So unnecessary and it only goes to how silly you really are and why it is so hard to reason with people like you! Mr. Myers makes a point and if you don't agree with his point.....fair enough......disagree with him. You don't have to carry on like a complete and utter ass!
Anyway, per your reference to the relevant section in the VAT, it really depends if your company is using the accrual method of accounting or the cash method of accounting.
If you are using the accrual method, you have to record the sale when it is made NOT when it is paid. In this instance, VAT would become due and payable when you record the sale. This leads to the cash flow issues that Mr. Myers referred to since if your customer does not pay you before the VAT becomes due then you have to dig in your pocket and find the money to pay the VAT yourself and hope you will get it back when your customer finally pays you.
If you are using the cash method, you record the sale when it is paid. You are right, there are no cash flow issues here since the customer pays you......before you have to pay the VAT to the government.
However, almost all large businesses are required by the VAT department to use the Accrual Method of Accounting (since this is what they have to use to generate their financial statements). Smaller businesses can use the Cash Method of Accounting since it is not as complicated as the Accrual Method and is probably the method being used by them anyway. It was felt that the easier you make it for the business to account for its sales, then the higher the compliance rate on VAT payments!
Bottom line: Under the Accrual Method, Mr. Myers is right......there are cash flow concerns! Under the Cash Method, you are right.....there are no cash flow concerns!
Let's leave it at that and move on!
SP 8 years, 11 months ago
.................................................................. SIT ! ..................................................................
duppyVAT 8 years, 11 months ago
Bottom line .............. VAT will soon be increased to 10% .......... stay tuned to 2015 Budget debate .......... Perry gatta find money to pay for his NHI scheme come January 2016
B_I_D___ 8 years, 11 months ago
VAT going up to 15% next year...along with a payroll tax to help pay for NHI. Guess the 'white rich folk' gonna be demonized for that as well.
B_I_D___ 8 years, 11 months ago
Guessing all the 'small' businesses under a million a year are held to a WAY different standard than the ones that are actually contributing to the stability of this country...I'd LOVE to be on that cash accrual standard...SP must be loving the lesser standard and thinking the big boys play by the same simple rules.
B_I_D___ 8 years, 11 months ago
...FYI...Cable...BEC...BTC...W&S...Super Value... and countless others...THOUSANDS of them, are on the accrual basis and account for the MAJORITY of the income for VAT...and this IS a major issue, whether you like it or not. Just because Mr. Myers happens to be white...and successful, and falls into that accrual basis category, maybe your input should be a bit tempered and seen from their standpoint as well.
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