The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Attorney General and Progressive Liberal Party Fort Charlotte candidate Alfred Sears said if elected his party will move towards a progressive tax system, reducing the burden on the poor and asking the wealthy to pay their “fair share”.

“The Progressive Liberal Party is saying, and this is for the first time in our independent country, we need to develop a progressive form of taxation and it’s already committed to corporate tax,” he said.

His comments came during a guest appearance on radio show The Revolution with Juan McCartney earlier this week.

“It will be engaging in widespread consultation to see how we could right size the system of taxation and move away from this inequitable tax regime that we have,” Mr Sears said.

“What is interesting about the tax regime that we have is that we have ring fenced our foreign investment primarily in The Bahamas because as you know the large hotels, I mean, they don’t pay the taxes Bahamians pay. They get incentives. They get concessions and... they also get subsidies.”

Mr Sears spoke about some of the economic reforms included in the party’s blueprint. The PLP has pledged to reduce VAT to 10 percent and “transform the tax system to make it more equitable and progressive, and to encourage national growth and prosperity”.

Mr Sears stated the reduction of VAT is calculated to increase consumer demand where people would have more money to spend with local merchants.

The party’s blueprint also calls for existing taxes to be recouped and says the PLP will “ensure high-end properties pay their real property tax”.

Mr Sears talked about the importance of this tax.

He explained: “Real property tax, it is a highly under taxed area especially with high value real estate and I have some clients some of whom are within that category and they recognise, they love The Bahamas, that’s why they’re here and they recognise that roads must be maintained, hospitals need to be maintained and a new hospital built.

“They are prepared to pay their fair share, so when you read the reduction of value added tax, which is a consumption tax where the people who work on homes are paying the same tax as we are, that is clearly not progressive. That’s clearly not sustainable, so tied with the reduction of value added tax is increasing immediately the real property tax.”