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Some mandatory VAT registrants ‘yet to come forward’

Six months into the implementation of Value-Added Tax (VAT) there are still some mandatory registrants who have not yet come forward, the Ministry of Finances Financial Secretary John Rolle said yesterday, but he added that revenue intake from the tax continues to “line up with expectations”. 

VAT’s 5% increase in food budget for social services

THE Government has approved a 5 per cent increase in the Department of Social Services’ food assistance budget to mitigate the impact of Value-Added Tax (VAT), a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.

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Small business expert: 700 new jobs needed per month for 3 years

The Government yesterday pledged to bring the long-awaited Small and Medium-Sized Business Development Bill to Parliament by January 2013 at latest, as a sector consultant said the Bahamas needed to create 700 net new jobs a month for the next three years to “dent” the unemployment rate.

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FamGuard targets improved profits 'through 2012' after 54% Q1 rise

FAMGUARD Corporation's 54.4 per cent net income increase for the 2012 first quarter "came close to expectations", its chief executive yesterday expressing optimism that its alliance with a major international 'third party' healthcare provider would further help reduce claims.

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BEC outages 'outrageous'

The Bahamas Electricity Corporation's (BEC) frequent power outages were yesterday blasted as "outrageous" by a leading private sector figure, who said its "ridiculously expensive" and unr

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Central Bank holding steady as reserves drawdown gains pace

The Central Bank yesterday maintained its prediction that The Bahamas’ external reserves will end 2022 ahead of prior year levels even though October’s decline exceeded 2021 by some $58.3m.

WATER CORP DISCONNECTS 5,400 IN '11

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A net 5,435 customers were disconnected by the Water & Sewerage Corporation for non-payment in 2011, data supplied to Tribune Business reveals, even though reconnections reached their highest level for five years.

BANK IS FACING 50,000 ACCOUNT PROBE ON FATCA

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Commonwealth Bank yesterday said it was facing the prospect of 'drilling down' into an estimated 50,000 client accounts to determine if there was any US beneficial ownership connection, while telling Tribune Busin

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Banks suffer 37% profitability decline

Bahamian commercial banks saw total private sector loan arrears increase by $76m during the 2020 fourth quarter as the sector’s collective profitability shrunk by 37 percent year-over-year.

MEDITATION: One thing I want

IF you could have one thing for sure this year, what would you want?

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Panthers and Defenders donate to DW Davis

AS the benefactors of the use of the DW Davis Gymnasium, Jason Saunders said it was only fitting that their Panthers and Defenders ladies and men’s volleyball teams give back something tangible to the school’s athletic programme.

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‘Jobless numbers need to get real’

WHILE admitting unemployment is largely a private sector problem, Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants president Gowon Bowe said yesterday newly released jobs statistics cannot be used as an indicator of the country’s economic performance.

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NAD suffers $13.94M bottom line reversal

Despite suffering a $13.941 million bottom line reversal that dropped it to a net $6.172 million loss for its 2012 financial year, the Nassau Airport Development Company’s (NAD) chief executive said it was still creating “an ideal gateway for the Bahamas”.

FINCO beats the industry despite $107m bad loans

Finance Corporation of the Bahamas (FINCO) yesterday disclosed that despite non-performing mortgage loans totalling $107 million at end-July, as a percentage of total credit this was almost five percentage points below the industry average.

Scotiabank to minimse outsourcing lay-offs

SCOTIABANK (Bahamas) yesterday announced plans to “centralise’ some of its Bahamian back office functions into its Trinidad & Tobago hub, and is attempting to either avoid or minimise staff lay-offs as a result.

'Imbalanced' criteria cuts Bahamas off from WTO grant assistance

A Cabinet minister has called for the Bahamas to receive grants and ‘soft’ loans to assist its integration into global trading regimes, arguing that an “imbalanced” criteria was being used to exclude it from such aid.

Gov't: 20-25% payroll tax for VAT match

The Government would have to implement the private sector’s favoured payroll tax at a rate between to 20-25 per cent to hit its revenue targets, the Financial Secretary saying this meant the average Bahamian worker would see more than $200 per month taken from their salary.

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'Gut-wrenching' VAT on BEC bills

FNM Chairman Darron Cash yesterday blasted the government for its “gut-wrenching” decision to apply Value Added Tax to electricity bills.

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Tottenham 0-0 Jamaica

English Premiership giants Tottenham Hotspur held by Jamaican national team.

AML ‘not where we want’ despite $1.22m rebound

AML Foods is “not where we want to be” on third quarter profitability despite enjoying a $1.22 million swing into the black, with the post-Back to School recovery in consumer spending taking longer each year.