The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The private sector is set to “re-engage” the Government over its proposal to take over the Business Licence process, amid renewed business cries about the “onerous” requirements they must meet.

Edison Sumner, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chief executive, told Tribune Business that its plan involved “streamlining” the entire process to create “a one-stop-shop” for companies seeking either a renewal or Business Licence for the first time.

Bahamian companies have been increasingly complaining that Business Licence procedures have become overly-bureaucratic in recent years, and that they are now required to provide documents showing they are in compliance with a host of other taxes and agencies’ regulatory requirements before a renewal is issued.

Apart from the dramatic fee increase that businesses must pay as a result of the 2013-2014 Budget’s increases, the enhanced documentary requirements mean many miss the March 31 renewal deadline. This also hits the cash-strapped government’s cash flow.

One business administrator, speaking on condition of anonymity, simply told Tribune Business: “Doing a Business Licence application is an horrendous experience.”

Another, who went into greater detail, was outspoken Superwash president Dionisio D’Aguilar, who told Tribune Business that he had been waiting to write the $100,000-plus cheque for his Business Licence fee for more than two months.

He is refusing to do so until he receives the necessary compliance letter from the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS), who he accused of “nitpicking at silly little things” rather than assessing whether his laundromats met appropriate health and safety standards.

“For the last three months, they’ve been coming into my locations and nitpicking silly little things,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business. “They come in and nitpick every tiny little detail, like Building Control at the Ministry of Works.

“I believe in free enterprise. If people don’t want to come to my locations, that’s their choice. It’s my business, and if I want to run it less than perfectly, and provided it’s not a public safety issue, let the public choose.”

He added: “There are over-zealous people coming into my locations and telling me how to run my business. Some of their concerns are legitimate, but they’re completely out of hand with what they’re requesting us to do....... repair a tile here, re-tile the boiler room.

“Why would they request us to fix our boiler room when no one ever sees it? They’re completely out of hand. All they need to do is see if there’s a public safety issue.”

Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business his due Business Licence fee payment was “in excess of $100,000”. He added: “I’ve been waiting to write the cheque for two months, and I’m not going to do it until I have my papers.

“The impact is that the Government doesn’t get its revenue. I could pay it, but I’m not going to pay it on principal until I get my letter. They [the DEHS] can take as long as they want.”

The Superwash president said such bureaucratic delays also ran counter to the Government’s desperate fiscal position. “There’s so many reasons for Business Licence fee late payment,” he told Tribune Business. “They’re shooting themselves in the foot.

“One the one hand you’ve got the Ministry of Finance saying we’re running a $40 million deficit a month, and on the other side people don’t realise there’s a crisis.

“This is a classic example of the tail wagging the head with the Government,” Mr D’Aguilar said, “and it’s just ridiculous. It’s better for me to have one location, as it puts you off coming to work every day and running your business.”

Mr Sumner told Tribune Business that the BCCEC had heard “similar concerns expressed by our members about the onerous process of Business Licence renewals”.

He suggested that this had resulted from recent shifts in government policy regarding payment timelines, and the dates by which certain documents showing compliance with the likes of National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions and real property tax payments had to reach the Government.

“We feel the process for Business Licence renewals and obtaining a Business Licence are too onerous,” Mr Sumner said. “We’d like to see the process streamlined.”

The BCCEC is now dusting off a previous recommendation that it take over running the Business Licence process from the Government. “We would like to have the opportunity to run the Business Registry for the Government,” Mr Sumner confirmed.

“We’re still holding to that proposal, and we’re going to be engaging the Government with this very shortly. The Government is not going to lose anything in terms of revenue, and we will help them make it a one-stop shop for anyone looking to acquire or renew a Business Licence.”

Mr Sumner said that in ‘outsourcing’ the Business Licence process, the Government would still have confidence that companies had completed the entire process and met the standards necessary.

“It’s not taking away from the Government’s authority over the system,” he told Tribune Business. “We want to provide them with administrative support to streamline the process and get things done.”

Mr Sumner said the failure to monitor Business Licence compliance had resulted in many companies operating in the informal economy without a valid licence.

“We propose to put the proper monitoring systems in place to monitor businesses on an annual basis,” the BCCEC chief executive said, “encouraging those businesses to also become members of the Chamber, so we can ensure every business in the country is operating on a valid Business Licence, and that they have all the required documents in place to allow them to operate the business they’ve been licensed to do.

“We’re up for it. We’re built tough, so that we can implement a system for all businesses, not just Chamber members.”