The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Corporate Bahamas yesterday warned the Government it cannot "keep beating the same horse to get taxes" as it rejected any increase in National Insurance Board (NIB) rates in the near-term.

Brent Burrows, CBS Bahamas (Commonwealth Building Supplies) principal, urged the Government to first crack down on delinquent employers who fail to pay NIB contributions on behalf of their staff, despite deducting this from their salaries, before it came after compliant firms with rate increases.

Arguing that it was “about time” they started going after NIB contribution deadbeats, Mr Burrows noted repeated suggestions by Brensil Rolle, minister with responsibility for the social security system, that the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed those companies who had been failing to contribute on their staff's behalf.

"That needs to be the first option if you are an individual or business," Mr Burrows said. "We can't keep beating the same horse to get these taxes. That's all across the board." NIB has paid unemployment benefits to persons whose employers have failed to make due contributions throughout the pandemic.

His comments came after Mr Rolle said the Government was mulling whether to implement NIB rate increases that have long been put off. Adding that increasing the rates has “always been in discussion”, Mr Rolle said: “All of the previous directors have been pushing government to do just that. The Government has not made that determination, though.

"We have got to take into consideration that during Dorian and this pandemic, the resources and the funding to the Board has been diminished. We've got to make a decision to make sure the Board continues to be able to serve, and that may mean consideration will be given to the recommendation that has been advanced to us many, many times by actuaries.”

No timeline was given by Mr Rolle on when any decision will be taken. NIB contributions, which take the form of a payroll tax, are currently split 3.9 percent/5.9 percent between employee and employer, respectively.

Rupert Roberts, Super Value’s principal, said the notion of any NIB contribution rate hike in the near-term will likely receive "total objection from contributors". He added that the social security system, though, had frequently been calling him to pay contributions in advance in recent months, which he interpreted as a sign of liquidity problems.