The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Top private sector executives yesterday said there was likely to have been a significant Monday rush to meet the Value-Added Tax (VAT) filing deadline, while admitting “some concern” that so many businesses had waited until the last minute.

Edison Sumner, co-chair of the VAT Education Task Force, told Tribune Business that while he had not studied official figures, he had been contacted on Monday by numerous companies planning to file their January returns on deadline day.

He conceded, though, that the last-minute wait by at least half the 550 VAT filers expected to submit due taxes for January was “frustrating” from the Government’s perspective, as it made it difficult to plan and forecast likely revenues.

John Rolle, the acting VAT Comptroller, did not respond to Tribune Business phone messages or e-mails seeking comment on how many companies had met the 5pm Monday deadline to file their January returns.

This newspaper, though, revealed that the filing/payment pace appeared to be behind schedule last week, as Mr Rolle disclosed then that just 12.7 per cent - or 70 businesses - out of the projected 550 had completed the process.

Mr Rolle, who is also the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, said on Monday that around half the Government’s monthly VAT payers - mostly larger companies with an annual turnover of $5 million or more - had submitted their returns and payments.

Asked by Tribune Business how problematic the numbers were, Mr Sumner replied: “Certainly there would be some concern with that.

“While we understand a lot of them had not filed by Saturday, we know there were quite a number of registrants submitting their returns on Monday.

“I got a number of calls from companies that were, and attempting, to file their returns yesterday [Monday].

“I think that if you look at the numbers now you will see some improvement over the Saturday numbers. I’m sure we would have seen an increase in the number of companies filing by Monday, and others going through the process in an attempt to beat the 5pm deadline.”

Mr Sumner, who is also the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chief executive, agreed that the continued tendency of Bahamian businesses to leave VAT compliance issue until the last minute was a worry.

Agreeing that this was a reflection of society, he told Tribune Business: “It’s always a concern, as you can never measure the results you are looking for until the last minute, but that has become the norm in our society.

“It is frustrating from that perspective because you don’t have the capacity to plan properly, as you do not know what you are dealing with.”

Echoing Mr Rolle’s comments from last week, Mr Sumner said the “real test” for the VAT Department, and its filings and payment systems, would come when the more than 5,000 quarterly filers - businesses with turnovers between $400,000 to $5 million - submitted their first returns on April 28.

Pledging a ramped up educational effort to prepare companies for that, Mr Sumner told Tribune Business: “I think you’re going to see a much more efficient system as all the kinks and bumps are ironed out, companies set up their online banking systems, and they work with the commercial banks for efficient remittance of the tax liabilities owed to the Government.

“As time goes on, I expect a much more efficient system, and all the registrants will become much more educated and confident in the filing of their returns.”

Gowon Bowe, the Coalition for Responsible Taxation’s chairman, told Tribune Business that the last-minute filing rush was “just a function of where we are in terms of the clarity that’s needed to get it done.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a great concern,” he said. “It’s more understanding the root causes, and a lot of that relates to how it should be done.”

Mr Bowe suggested the problems would likely ease over the next 10 weeks, and acknowledged that the Government had promised “a light touch approach” in dealing with companies that had missed the VAT filing deadline.