The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemdia.net

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) has urged its membership to comply with existing tax laws and regulations, noting that where law and regulations are considered unreasonable or ‘overly onerous’, they should raise such matters formally though the private sector representative.

“The BCCEC fully supports efforts by the Bahamas Government to enforce the rule of law and implement initiatives to increase tax compliance, and we further strongly encourage our members to comply with existing laws and regulations. The informal economy is as damaging to the formal economy as it is to coffers of the Bahamas Government. Where laws and regulations are considered unreasonable or their implementation is overly onerous or impractical, we continue to encourage compliance by our members but request that they raise such matters formally through the BCCEC to enable dialogue and collaboration with the relevant authorities to agree a middle ground that achieves the objectives of the initiatives with minimal impediments to commerce,” the BCCEC said in a recent statement.

The admonition came in a recent statement on the issue of tax compliance certificates. The BCCEC - the chief private sector representative - has urged the Government to ‘expedite’ the establishment of a Central Revenue Agency (CRA) amid growing backlash from businesses over the mandatory Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC).The BCCEC has also recommended that the Government make TCCs valid for a period of six months as opposed to the 30-day period which currently stands, given the amount of time it takes to obtain the document. A TCC is necessary when doing business with the government and is issued to businesses and persons who are compliant with their tax obligations to the government. The certificate is required for individuals who; wish to do business with the government or a public body, seek to collect monies for services rendered to the government or a public body; seek to register ownership or change ownership of a taxable good. The BCCEC noted that a significant number of businesses have been expressed over the TCC.

“Several businesses have indicated that an impractical TCC requirement could result in changes to how they transact with The Bahamas Government, such as doing business on a cash on delivery basis. This would not serve the private sector, The Bahamas Government or expansion of the domestic economy, and accordingly, we hope to have further deliberations with the Government achieve resolutions that benefit both the private sector and The Bahamas,” the Chamber noted.