The Tribune

THE Bahamas Federation of Retailers is a non-profit and apolitical group. It formed on November 12, 2013 in order to strengthen and develop the retail sector of the Bahamas.

Although, the pending VAT legislation has created the impetus for the formation of the Federation, the long-term goal of the BFR is to assist its members to understand the business issues and opportunities facing retailers in the 21st century Bahamas.

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employer’s Confederation has formed the ‘Coalition for Responsible Taxation’ in order to provide feedback to the government from every sector of the Bahamian economy regarding the largest tax reform in the history of the Bahamas.

The Bahamas Federation of Retailers has formed to ensure that the retailers of the Bahamas are represented on the panel that will comprise the BCCEC Coalition for Responsible Taxation.

The inaugural meeting of the Bahamas Federation of Retailers was held at 2pm on November 12 at Galleria Cinemas and comprised of approximately 100 retailers. Many more have joined since. At that meeting, the following was agreed upon:

• To form the Bahamas Federation of Retailers.

• To appoint an executive committee.

• To appoint sector heads for each retail sector.

• To work closely with the BCCEC Coalition for Responsible Taxation.

• To seek the deferment of the VAT implementation date to ensure that the government and the private sector have all the information and sufficient time to understand the implications of VAT and to explore alternative solutions to fixing our national deficit and debt issues.

The Bahamas Federation of Retailers would like to invite all retailers throughout the Bahamas who have concerns about VAT or about the existing tax structure and its implications on the retail trade to contact us via email at bfretailers@gmail.com or via faceboook using the following link in your web browser: https://www.facebook.com/BFRetailers.

Please ‘like’ us on facebook for updates about meeting times and news about the government’s proposed tax reform that is relevant to the retail sector and to the business community of the Bahamas.

We will have a press release announcing the location, date and time of our next general meeting soon. In the mean time, please contact us via the links provided. We need your feedback.