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No VAT on Baha Mar completion

As of Thursday, January 5, 2017

TRIBUNE BUSINESS: Baha Mar finish 100% ‘VAT free’ - Full story HERE

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Government was yesterday urged to divulge “the full cost to the Bahamian people” of its Baha Mar agreement after evidence emerged to show it had extended an exemption from Value-Added Tax to all companies and suppliers working on the construction completion of the resort.

The tax break - revealed in an email from the project’s general contractor - could mean the Government forgoing up to $60m in revenue, according to one educated estimate, and is likely to provoke outrage among Bahamians, upset that exemptions are being granted to the Chinese when the same are not being made available to local businesses and consumers.

The email, from China Construction America (CCA) headlined ‘Exemption of VAT’ and issued yesterday morning, said all companies working on the completion of the stalled Cable Beach development had been granted “a full” waiver from payment of the 7.5 per cent levy.

Sent by Siyao Shen, of CCA (Bahamas) commercial department, it read: “It’s agreed with the Government that the sub-contractors and suppliers of CCA Bahamas (CCA) shall be entitled to have the benefit of a full exemption from the payment of Value-Added Tax for works carried out on the Baha Mar project.”

Having effectively confirmed that the VAT waiver covers all Baha Mar-related construction activity, and includes all its sub-contractors and suppliers - Bahamian and foreign - the CCA e-mail suggests that they can also recover the taxes paid on bills submitted by their own service providers and suppliers. It also suggests that all sub-contractors, suppliers and service providers working on Baha Mar will receive “zero-rated” treatment on all their costs and invoices.

However, a Government source familiar with the Baha Mar agreement said it was “not unusual” for sub-contractors working on major foreign direct investment projects to enjoy the same tax incentives as the main contractor.

FULL STORY, SEE BUSINESS

Comments

goodbyebahamas 7 years, 11 months ago

What, the Bahamian people have to pay VAT and their barely making it, but the Chinese who are wealthy as the Devil himself don't have to pay VAT; this is a F-ing joke,right?! And the ugly witch of the west is sent to speak on behalf of the PLP mob telling you what the future will hold with the Baha Mar opening; can they predict the weather too? Where the F**K is my baseball ball, I feel like a good baseball game to release F-ing stress!

Islandboy242242 7 years, 11 months ago

$60 Million you say...wowzers..I'm all for economic stimulus but when the Dept. of Inland Revenue is issuing a shake down on Bahamian businesses while letting 60 million slip away things seem a bit disproportional...

Publius 7 years, 11 months ago

Now businesses that deal with Baha Mar/CCA are going to have problems with their books because they are dealing with a company that is not paying VAT. CCA does not have the legal authority to tell a business not to charge VAT on services and supplies. Only the government can do this in law.

I know, I know. CCA is the government, but seriously.

athlete12 7 years, 11 months ago

Whats the point of doing business with owners if you're going to give them a $60 mill pass? Furthermore, a pass on a project that wont change the economic status of the country.

Weather we want to believe it or not tourism is dying in this country because the cost of living here is to expensive. Tourist aren't spending like they use to thus the reason Atlantis is going to the all inclusive track.

Why cant we get off this track of depending on foreigners and become self sufficient?

I guess we're just like most African nations:in debt, inefficient and no vision

jackbnimble 7 years, 11 months ago

Wait a minute. Didn't we just get downgraded because even with all that vat money we can't pay our bills? So you get to tax the citizens into neverland with no accountability, but the foreign entities get a pass on taxes?!! Am I still living in the Bahamas? Dang! Sounds like I need to move to China!

The_Oracle 7 years, 11 months ago

Move to China you'll be lucky to get dog to eat! Disgraceful, inept, desperate, self serving, I could go on and on, but to what end? We elect these people over and over......

hallmark 7 years, 11 months ago

So to me this looks like the Bahamian Citizens are repaying the Chinese the $100 million ex gratia settlement that they provided. My, my, my!

Honestman 7 years, 11 months ago

Nothing was more certain that Joe Public was going to be paying for the ex-gratia settlement. Christie thinks we are all stupid. Unfortunately some of us are stupid and will vote for PLP regardless.

birdiestrachan 7 years, 11 months ago

how is it that newspapers can receive e mails and print the information, while STB take their e. mails complaint to the courts. seems like a double standard to me. All of the monies paid out by the owners, there must of been some kind of deal some where right or wrong . That is what my common sense told me.

Hogfish 7 years, 11 months ago

Chinese First !

PastorTroy 7 years, 11 months ago

This is the natural process of Dinosaurs negotiating with educated humans. There are many obvious reasons why Dinosaurs went extinct, however Bahamians choose to recycle and resurrect them every 5 years hoping AND PRAYING, they become relevant to our prosperous future. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!

Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 11 months ago

Slime ball James Smith knew about this VAT waiver all along as he was paying out funds to Baha Mar creditors that he and Vomit claimed to have been received gratis from the Red Chinese Fookers. And this most recently disclosed VAT waiver that our country cannot afford, given by Crooked Christie to his Red China friends, is just the tip of the iceberg. BAHA MAR CREDITORS HAVE BEEN PAID BY BAHAMIAN TAXPAYERS NOT RECEIVING VAT FUNDS THAT CROOKED CHRISTIE'S RED CHINA FRIENDS SHOULD HAVE PAID INTO OUR PUBLIC TREASURY.....AND LYING JAMES SMITH ALL ALONG KNEW THIS TO BE THE CASE! What a joke!!

concernedcitizen 7 years, 11 months ago

Our leader, the wicked witch and the aging bagman got high end Park avenue luxury units over looking Central park from the Chinese and we the people and our treasury got the sh@tty end of the stick

Alex_Charles 7 years, 11 months ago

Seems like Bahamians are annoying of being shafted from the government, it only took 40+ years but alas we are here and gearing up to re-elect the PLP unless something gives between the opposition parties. This may just be the beginning of another 5 years of scary Perry

sheeprunner12 7 years, 11 months ago

Just on the Bahamar debacle alone ............ the PLP should be voted out of office in 2017 election ......... they do not deserve FIVE seats in the new Parliament ...... When you add to that ------- UR2.0 crony contracts, BOB sweet loans, BAMSI unaccountability, BPL incompetence, BTC lies, Carnval debauchery, civil service non-productivity, RUBIS criminality, Nygard slime, PMH/NHI hotair and Bahamasair overkill ........... these PLP MPs should all be locked up for life in HMP Maximum Prison dungeons

paul_vincent_zecchino 7 years, 11 months ago

Is anyone else getting the impression that Baha Mar was asymmetrical warfare which the chicoms used as the 'tip of the spear' to secure a beachhead on and control over New Providence and then the rest of the Bahamas?

Wasn't it 'Banker' who not long ago noted that the chicoms have these strangely 'stalled' projects in many other countries as well?

ohdrap4 7 years, 11 months ago

I do not get this.

When I bring in a piece of plywood, i pay vat.

When I sell to Bahamar, they pay vat and I deduct the amount already paid to send to the govt.

Who is going to reimburme for what I already paid if i sell vat free?

The greates shortcoming of humanity is their inability to understand percentages.

B_I_D___ 7 years, 11 months ago

That's the rub...every business now that has any involvement with Bahamar's completion will get burned by not being able to recover their VAT outlay. Chinese get a deal, AND burn every business that tries to sell to them.

Islandboy242242 7 years, 11 months ago

Someone brought this up on the airwaves yesterday. Apparently you'll have to file for a credit on the non-recoverable VAT but filing for credits usually leads to automatic audits of everything so it sounds like a load of fun.

B_I_D___ 7 years, 11 months ago

Yeah...good luck with that...frying pan to the fryer!!

TalRussell 7 years, 11 months ago

Comrades! The prime minister has said and repeated many times that the Baha Mar project is "97%" completed, with all structures finished, but it still requires inspections and other final tasks to be finished before opening to the public... If this is so, why didn't his government grant only a 3% concession of the $60 million in VAT that will now go uncollected by the peoples public treasury?

birdiestrachan 7 years, 11 months ago

Does the end justify the means. . Those people paid off contractors and employees. how much did they pay ? and whatt is the VAT total. Do any one think they would be so generous if there was no return on their payments.

Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 11 months ago

Crooked Christie and his family, the Wicked Witch Maynard-Gibson and her family and a few cronies of Crooked Christie like greedy Bag Man Baltron Bethel are laughing all the way to the bank as they pocket for their own personal benefit the great wealth they have received from their Red China friends in exchange for screwing our public treasury and the Bahamian people out of tax dollars our country so desperately needs at this time.

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