business@tribunemedia.net
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2025
$5.30 $4.76
Tax chief hoping for 80-85% compliance on Business Licence By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SENIOR Department of Inland Revenue executive is hoping 80-85 percent of Bahamian companies met Friday’s Business Licence filing deadline so that financial penalties are kept to a minimum. Dexter Fernander, the Department of Inland Revenue’s operations manager, told Tribune Business he was seeking a high compliance threshold from the private sector as he confirmed many businesses had waited “until the last minute” to submit their actual turnover figures for 2024 and estimates for 2025. Speaking prior to “running the system” and seeing how companies met the January 31 deadline, he said: “It’s been a typical pace, including coming at the last minute and changing their representatives. A lot of people are switching the representatives they have in their system; a combination of accountants and lawyers, and asking for
them to get access to the system themselves. “That’s very interesting, but we’re accommodating them once we get a letter to deactivate the previous access points.” As for the tendency of many businesses to wait until the end-January deadline to file their Business Licence returns, Mr Fernander added: “I don’t understand that culture. I guess it’s ‘I’ll wait until this day and pray everything is right with the system. “We haven’t had any indication that people have had problems with the system. Hopefully, when we run the system, we will see 80-85 percent compliance. Hopefully we won’t have many penalties for late filings.” Tribune Business was unable to reach Mr Fernander subsequently to determine how many businesses out of the anticipated 65,000 filers had met the deadline, with 26,000 having done so as at Wednesday. Meanwhile, Mark Turnquest, a small business
SEE PAGE B7
$5.38
$5.36
$5.33
Price hike concern over new food safety regime By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FARMERS and other Bahamian food-related businesses are voicing fears they may be forced to increase prices due to the mandates of a new health and safety regulatory regime that is now being enforced. Agriculture entrepreneurs and other food vendors, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, told Tribune Business that aspects of the supervisory framework unveiled on Friday by the Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority (BAHFSA) appeared unduly onerous and bureaucratic, and could discourage young entrepreneurs from entering farming or home-based food businesses. Those who attended the Authority’s webinars and Zoom calls on Friday, at which its online permitting and inspection processes were launched, said food-related businesses will now have to apply for annual registration with BAHFSA in addition to all the other multiple
t 'BSNFST GPPE WFOEPST TBZ UPP POFSPVT t *OEVTUSZ T NPOUIT UP SFHJTUFS DPNQMZ t "VUIPSJUZ DIJFG $POTVNFS TBGFUZ DSJUJDBM permits and tax payments they must obtain/make to the Government. Disclosing that firms will be unable to obtain their Business Licence unless they are registered with the Authority, and have passed an annual inspection, attendees said farmers and other enterprises involved in numerous aspects of the food industry will now face the prospect of having to co-ordinate and undergo multiple annual inspections from 2026 onwards.
And they expressed particular concern that it appears every employee in a food store, wholesale distributor and restaurant who “comes into contact” with food products must obtain an annual health certificate even if they do not directly handle produce. This was interpreted by some attendees spoken to by Tribune Business as meaning that delivery drivers, warehouse staff and forklift drivers must also obtain annual health certificates - a demand some branded as “not practical or reasonable”. The same sources also said they will now be required to document, and provide evidence, of pest control contracts and other efforts to maintain cleanliness at their premises. Those who were on the webinars, or learned what was discussed, said it seemed as if the remaining 11 months of 2025 will be treated as “your period of leniency to get straight” before the regulatory regime is fully enforced in 2026. “Thank God they’ve given us an entire year to wrap our heads around it and figure out how we’re going to
SEE PAGE B6
Cable warns 5G is ‘not viable’ in medium-term By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net REGULATORS will press ahead this year with plans to facilitate fifth generation (5G) mobile roll-out despite Cable Bahamas’ warning that the technology is “not commercially viable” in the medium-term. The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), unveiling the results of its consultation on the “road map” to deploying 5G mobile technology throughout The Bahamas, confirmed it will “release premium spectrum [mobile frequencies] for 5G in low and mid-bands in 2025”
in an effort to move the process forward given the potentially significant economic and development benefits it can bring. But Cable Bahamas, in its consultation response, while acknowledging the benefits that the latest mobile network technology can generate for tourism, businesses and the wider economy, warned that “the key issue that needs to be recognised more clearly” by the likes of the Government, URCA and others is that such a roll-out does not make commercial business sense for operators such as itself in the medium-term. Arguing that forecasts for mobile data growth
SEE PAGE B8
Trump tariffs ‘very bad news’ for The Bahamas By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net DONALD Trump’s decision to levy tariffs on Chinese, Canadian and Mexican imports is “definitely very bad news” for Bahamians as it will likely increase prices for multiple goods, businesses warned yesterday, The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), in a statement responding to Tribune Business inquiries, said it harbours “deep concern” over the US president’s move to ignite a trade war given that it will may once again worsen the inflation
DONALD TRUMP and cost of living crisis that many Bahamian families are “already struggling with”. The Bahamas, which imports virtually all the physical goods it consumes and has limited domestic
SEE PAGE B8