The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Opposition's finance spokesman yesterday demanded "less talk and more action" from the Government, while affirming his party is against the IMF's income tax proposal.

Chester Cooper, addressing the House of Assembly on the 'Speech from the Throne's contents, accused the Minnis administration of living in the past through its constant attacks on the former PLP government, and failing to produce a coherent economic growth strategy.

He argued that the Bahamas needed to "get ahead" of financial services change, and reform its existing taxation system - especially the "archaic" Business License fees - to foster more efficient revenue collection and GDP expansion.

Reiterating his belief that the Government's 2017-2018 Budget speech was "the wrong speech at the wrong time, and in the wrong place", Mr Cooper said the price paid by the Bahamas for escaping the subsequent 'junk' downgrade threat by Moody's was the firing of public sector workers and Budget cuts.

While he became the latest person to reject the IMF's call for the Bahamas to implement a 'low-rate income tax' in the medium-term, the Exuma MP said the Opposition did back other taxation reforms.

"We do support a consolidation, however, and maximising and enhancement of efficiency of existing taxes, and swift reforms to the archaic Business License fee," he told the House. "It's a regressive tax. Some progressive legislation to move our country forward would be welcome."

Mr Cooper suggested that tax reform may also be needed to complement an adjustment to the Bahamas' financial services model, given this nation's commitment to implement automatic tax information exchange via the OECD's Common Reporting Standard (CRS) on a multilateral basis.

He urged the Government to focus on the 'ease of doing business' by "streamlining and modernising even more the services of the Registrar General [and] the Immigration Department", and shed the Bahamas' reputation as an 'offshore centre' or tax haven.

With the OECD and its members now shifting their attention to eliminate 'profit shifting' by corporations, and tax base erosion, the Opposition's finance spokesman said: "We must get ahead of this. We must be proactive and modernise our Business License tax perhaps, leveraging the change to create incentives for real international business to domicile in the Bahamas.

"We have a lot of work to do in financial services, and the Government must provide the appropriate support. We do not have time to be talking about the past."

Reiterating his belief that the Government had almost talked its way into a downgrade that it "barely escaped" via the Budget communication, Mr Cooper urged it to unveil a growth and job creation strategy that would positively impact unemployed and low income Bahamians.

"In order to get the Bahamas back on track, we must get the economy growing again," he said. "The Government must outline and implement an aggressive economic growth plan.

"And in an economy such as this, economic growth can be induced either by government intervention in the short-term by expenditure on meaningful projects, or, by allowing the private sector to spend on projects by providing the appropriate incentives and ensuring the availability of credit.

"Unfortunately, to date, the Government has not seen fit to pursue either path. We need less talk; we need more action. The Bahamian people are hurting all across our Bahamaland."

Lamenting the seeming lack of "policy stimulus to jump start" tourism, financial services and construction, Mr Cooper highlighted numerous campaign promises and government initiatives that had either been delayed or abandoned.

Expressing concern that Family Islands such as his constituency could be lost in the Government's focus on Grand Bahama, the Opposition finance spokesman pointed out that renovations and re-opening at the Grand Lucayan had yet to materialise, despite the Prime Minister stating this would occur before end-August.

"The Exuma International Airport is not only a national disgrace, but it's an impediment to further development on the island," Mr Cooper said. "Major international developers committed to spending hundreds of millions of dollars are said to be delaying investment in Exuma as a result of lack of action on this facility.

"I am reliably advised that the previous Government left funding in place for airports at Exuma, North Eleuthera and Bimini. We ask the Government to get on with it, as this is also an opportunity to create jobs in the construction sector."

Mr Cooper also suggested the Government was 'reinventing the wheel' on import product standards and a 'one-stop shop' for entrepreneurs, pointing out that the Standards Bureau was already in place along with plans to address other weaknesses.