business@tribunemedia.net
Thursday, March 5, 2026
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Marinas need boating fee reforms ‘like yesterday’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN marinas yesterday urged the Prime Minister to fully disclose planned cruising permit fee reforms “like yesterday” as operators in the northern islands confirmed business volumes remain off by 50 percent with Easter rapidly approaching. Robbie Smith, Bimini Big Game Club’s veteran dockmaster of 37 years, told Tribune Business that the Government’s plans to create two new permit fee “categories”, if structured and priced correctly, could reverse the loss of small-vessel weekend and day trippers that has been “killing everybody” in the marina business on the island. With those boats viewing The Bahamas’ cruising and
PM reveals two new cruising permit ‘categories’ But precious little detail with business off 50% ‘Timing couldn’t be better’, but some urge more associated permit fees as too expensive, when set against planned spending and time in this destination, prompting them to stay closer to home in the Florida Keys, he revealed that Bimini Big Game’s marina occupancies - typically 85 percent during weekends at this time of year
- remain down at between 40-55 percent. Mr Smith spoke after Philip Davis KC, in his midyear Budget statement to the House of Assembly, revealed that the Government plans to reform the new and increased boating-related fees that it implemented last summer with the 2025-2026 Budget. He disclosed that two new cruising permit fee categories will be created, although no details were provided for the timeline by when this will happen or on the fees themselves; the permit duration; and the length of vessel they will apply to. The Prime Minister’s Office did not reply to Tribune Business inquiries seeking to obtain this information before press time last
VESSEL - See Page B6
PHILIP DAVIS KC
THE Government saw VAT revenues collected from The Bahamas’ 145 largest taxpayers and their affiliates increase by $11.4m year-overyear during the 2025-2026 Budget’s first half to account for around 50 percent of total income from this tax. Philip Davis KC, unveiling the mid-year Budget in the House of Assembly, said these corporate entities and their 76 affiliates achieved an on-time filing and compliance average
of 89 percent despite VAT payment deadlines being narrowed. Hailing the Large Taxpayer Unit’s work, he said it “plays a critical role in safeguarding government revenue by strengthening compliance among the largest contributors to the national tax base”. “As of December 31, 2025, the unit monitored 145 large taxpayers and 76 related entities, adding 52 new taxpayers during the year. VAT collections totaled $358.5m, which is approximately 50 percent of total VAT receipts, representing an $11.4m increase
year-over-year,” the Prime Minister added. “Filing and payment compliance among these large taxpayers averaged 89 percent even as deadlines were tightened. These results reflect a more disciplined, data-driven approach to tax administration.” Mr Davis said enhanced enforcement and compliance had also led to a 150 percent increase in maritime revenue collections although no dollar figures were provided. “Stronger domestic tax compliance is one side of the equation,” he asserted.
Public sector wage bill up $200m in five years BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister yesterday asserted that the near $200m growth in the public sector wage bill over a five-year period has not detracted from spending on healthcare, education, national security and other critical public services. Philip Davis KC, unveiling the mid-year Budget statement in the House of Assembly, justified the significant increase in the Government’s employee bill - which rose by 27 percent in total, and 24.3 percent when base salaries are factored in - as a necessary response to The
Bahamas’ cost of living and affordability crisis, while also ensuring that public sector pay remains competitive with the private sector to help retain key employees. “Affordability is not only about what families pay at the checkout counter. It is also about what they take home in their pay. And so, I turn now to how this Government has focused on the men and women who serve in our public service,” he said. “We believe our public servants deserve to be compensated fairly, and this administration has worked toward honouring that obligation.
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PM says Parliament did approve Fund’s $265m BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister yesterday hit back at Opposition claims the Government had violated the law by injecting $265.3m worth of bond proceedings into the National Investment Fund through asserting that Parliament had already approved the move. Prime Minister Philip Davis KC, unveiling the mid-year Budget statement in the House of Assembly, said Parliament approved
a borrowing resolution on March 10, 2025, that paved the way for his administration to deposit the $300m surplus proceeds from the Government’s $1.067bn external foreign currency bond issue into the Fund to help finance infrastructure investments. A copy of the resolution, which is posted on the Government’s website, states that Parliament “approves the deposit of the proceeds of the borrowing into the National Investment Fund” - thereby seemingly
INJECT - See Page B11
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GRAND BAHAMA PORT AUTHORITY (GBPA) HEADQUARTERS
GBPA warned Gov’t ‘Pandora’s Box’ open if payment pursued Co-chair said ‘deficit bill never presented in 60 years’ Christie reassured ‘no one will cause you any harm’ Payment mechanism has laid dormant for 23 years BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
“The other side is ensuring that activity in Bahamian waters translates into substantial revenue for the Bahamian people. For too long, that has not been the case. This Government has moved to change it. “We have taken meaningful action to close long-standing gaps in maritime revenue collection. Over the past year, co-ordinated inspections across New Providence, Grand Bahama, Bimini, Abaco, Exuma, Eleuthera and surrounding cays identified
THE Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) co-chair warned the Government almost ten years ago that it “would open a Pandora’s Box” if it pressed claims that the quasi-governmental authority owed significant multi-million dollar sums for expenses that exceeded Freeport’s tax revenues. The just-released arbitration ruling, which dismissed the Government’s demand that the GBPA pay it $357m, reveals that Sarah St George told senior Christie administration officials that “a deficit bill has never in 60 years” been presented despite assertions that the Hawksbill Creek Agreement clause providing for such reimbursement remains valid. That clause, which was cited in April 2016 by Allyson Maynard-Gibson KC, the former attorney general, and Sir Baltron Bethel, senior policy advisor to then-prime minister Perry Christie, was subsequently ruled by the arbitrators to have been superseded - and replaced - by the Government’s 1994 agreement with the GBPA. Mr Christie later pledged to Ms St George that “no one on this side will cause you any harm” as long as he held the prime minister’s chair.
INCOME - See Page B13
REVIEW - See Page B7
PETER MAURY
Top taxpayers give $11.4m VAT surge By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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