The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamas-based cporate entities have partnered to stage a national tax reform symposium, a move Sunshine Holdings chairman yesterday said will expand and deepen discussions on the issue.

The symposium will be held at the College of the Bahamas on October 25-26, and Franklyn Wilson said it marks an important step in tax reform discussions.

He added that the symposium was being executed by an “exceptional array of co-partners”.

The Christie administration has targeted tax reform as a high priority, with a consultation white paper on the subject to be produced.

The Inter-American Development Bank, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB), the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA), the College of the Bahamas, the Royal Bank of Canada, CFAL, Graham Thompson, Arawak Homes and the Grand Bahama Port Authority are among the entities that have partnered to create the summit.

“The symposium is important. I has an exceptional array of partners, and we have committed to execute it to a standard where everyone can say I learned something. This is far beyond partisan politics. This will be executed at a very high level,” said Mr Wilson.

The symposium is free to the public, but with space expected to be highly sought after, people are urged to register early. Organisers of the symposium hope to generate an informed national debate, engage all stakeholders, produce a report on findings and policy implications, and also present a paper to Parliament.

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation chairman, Chester Cooper, said: “This national symposium on tax reform is an event that is certain to deepen the national debate on the subject of tax in the Bahamas.

“t brings together an extraordinary depth of panellists and transcends partisan lines. There is indeed no question that we need a more efficient and progressive tax system for the Bahamas.

“There is also consensus that the new system must achieve the obvious result of raising adequate revenues for fiscal reform, but also enhance our major industries, including financial services. The experience of some neighbouring countries upon rolling out a new tax regime, which created much discontent in the business community and among the general citizenry is already validation of this model.”

Astrid Winter, country representative for the IDB, said: “To have a dialogue with stakeholders can really discuss what is the best way forward for the Bahamas in terms of the tax system.

“What is also very key is that this is an effort driven by civil society, and it is really anexpression of national desire to have this kind of conversation. We know that the Bahamas has to join the World Trade Organisation.”

She added: “The Bahamas right now is the only country in this hemisphere that is not yet a member. It’s a process. One of the big challenges about joining the WTO is a country needs to drop or reduce its import duties. What does that mean for a tax system like the one we have in the Bahamas? Where would a stable source of revenue come from when you no longer have the capacity to generate revenue as before from import duties and tariffs?

“The second area is that we know that the structure of the tax system is very volatile because, depending on how much people buy, you would then have commensurate income. We want to look together as a group at a more stable source of income.

“The third area that is really important to this debate has to do with equity and income distribution, basically who pays what. Now it’s the consumer basically who pays, and the poorer the consumer is the more, relatively speaking, the consumer pays for goods. One of the issues this symposium will address is those equity and income distribution questions. We all know that tariffs are not really the most fair and equitable way to generate income.

“The fourth area that’s really important about this issue is just simplifying the tax structure. Currently, the tax system is extremely complex.”