The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A leading businessman is complaining that the Government is adding insult to an “already crushed” private sector’s injury through the “bureaucracy” accompanying Business Licence payments

While not objecting to the Government tying Business Licence renewals/approvals to the payment of all other due taxes, Dionisio D’Aguilar, Superwash’s president, said the relevant agencies needed to provide ‘good standing’ confirmations “instantly”.

Now almost three weeks into the process of obtaining Superwash’s confirmations, Mr D’Aguilar said that although National Insurance Board (NIB) and corporate registration letters were in hand, the laundromat chain was now being told a ‘sanitation letter’ from the Department of Environmental Heath was required before its Business Licence fee was processed.

Noting that these requirements were coming in the aftermath of major Business Licence rate increases in the 2013-2014 Budget, Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business: “It’s not so much the rate but the bureaucracy accompanying the Business Licence.

“Paying the fee is now apparently a small part of the process; you have to show a letter that you’re up-to-date with NIB contributions, the payment receipt that you’re up-to-date with corporate registration fees, and now I have to get a letter from the Department of Environmental Health showing we have sanitation approval.

“I’ve never heard of these requirements, don’t know what these requirements are, and don’t know where they come into the mix.”

Mr D’Aguilar said his main complaint was that the necessary confirmations were never readily made available, and in a timely manner, by the relevant government departments and agencies.

With phone calls often proving ineffective, he added that time and money had to be spent on sending employees to these agencies to request the confirmations in person. They then often had to return several days later to pick them up, and even then the required documents were sometimes not ready.

“There’s nothing wrong with these requirements, but they all take time to get,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business. “Everything requested seems to be taking longer and longer at NIB, the Corporate Registration Department (Registrar General’s Department) and Environmental Health.

“They’re not equipped to provide you with the information in a timely manner. They’re so backed up with processing so many of those fees that they can’t provide you with their fee information.”

Appreciating the Government’s strategy to prevent tax dodging by businesses, Mr D’Aguilar added: “I can understand why they they want to tie everything together before you pay the Business Licence, but they must ensure businesses get these letters instantly.

“I get it, but you have to make this process much quicker, easier and less bureaucratic. You’ve already crushed us with these increased Business Licence fees and anti-business, unfriendly environment.

“Right now, it’s a lot of effort, a lot of calling, you’ve got to go down there. It takes a lot of time. You have to make it easy for people. Once you’ve done what you’re supposed to do, it shouldn’t take a week to get some letter from some stupid bureaucracy.”

Using the Registrar General’s Department as an example, Mr D’Aguilar said an attorney’s letter with a stamp showing corporate registration fees had been paid did not suffice when it came to Business Licence fee requirements. The official receipt was needed, and this often proved hard to track down.