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Thursday, March 12, 2026
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Super Value facing $400k monthly VAT ‘exempt’ hit BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SUPER Value is bracing for an up to $400,000 per month hit due to the Government’s decision to treat the elimination of VAT on uncooked foods as ‘exempt’ rather than ‘zero rated’. Debra Symonette, the 13-store supermarket chain’s president, told Tribune Business that the planned tax treatment means Super Value and all other food stores, as well as the likes of gas stations and pharmacies, will from April 1 be unable to reclaim or ‘net off’ VAT they pay on input expenses linked to uncooked foods.
As a result, they will be unable to recover VAT on all purchases and expenses related to their uncooked food inventory, which represents a significant share - if not the majority - of their business. Ms Symonette warned it would have “a detrimental” impact for the food store chain’s profitability, and is “definitely going to affect our bottom line”. The ‘exempt’ VAT treatment was revealed to grocery merchants during a recent meeting with the Ministry of Finance. The Super Value president disclosed that she and other retailers are now urgently seeking a second meeting, given that the April 1 elimination of VAT on uncooked foods is now just 20 days
Ex-chair: Was Mortgage Corp $110m refinanced? BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Bahamas Mortgage Corporation chairman last night urged the Government to clarify whether the $110m in bond principal coming due for repayment in the four years ending in 2026 was refinanced and rolled-over given that only 52 percent of the sum was covered. Dr Duane Sands, now the Free National Movement’s (FNM) chairman, speaking after the Mortgage Corporation’s accounts for the four years to 2017 were yesterday tabled in the House of Assembly, told Tribune Business that Bahamian taxpayers yet again appear “to be on the hook” for multi-million dollar guarantees underpinning a state-owned enterprise (SOE) based on the latest financials. The audited accounts for 2017, which were only signed off more than eight years later on November 18, 2025, reveal that the Mortgage Corporation’s sinking fund - containing monies, assets and investments intended to cover the repayment of bond principal when these issues mature - contained some $57.096m at end-June that year.
DR DUANE SANDS That valuation had declined from $59.552m just two years previously, and the full amount was only adequate to cover just over half of the $110m worth of bonds - divided into four issues ranging in size from $10m to a maximum of $50m - that were due to mature over the four years between 2023 and 2026. As a result, Dr Sands last night called on the Davis administration to confirm whether this $110m bond principal has been refinanced, rolled over or had its maturity extended further out into the future to prevent a default. The Government’s 2025-2026 mid-year Budget report shows a possible $142.5m guarantee it may have to provide on the Mortgage Corporation’s behalf, which
FUNDING - See Page B11
‘More costly’ fear: ‘Experts’ to assess OECD compliance BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN financial services executive yesterday warned “it’s going to be more costly” to conduct business in this jurisdiction after the Government unveiled reforms that will permit a “designated tax expert” to assess compliance with automatic tax information exchange laws, regulations and standards. Paul Moss, Dominion Management Services' principal, told Tribune Business that legislative changes such as the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (Amendment) Bill 2026 highlight “the number one goal” of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and other agencies to make the cost and bureaucracy associated with doing business in The Bahamas and other international financial centres (IFCs) so onerous as to drive them out of financial services. The Bill, which was tabled in the House of Assembly, if
passed as is mandates that all Bahamas-based financial institutions - regardless of whether they have clients and accounts subject to automatic tax information exchange reporting - must register with the Ministry of Finance “no later than” June 15, 2026, if The Bahamas is to avoid further OECD scrutiny. The legislation also creates an “automatic exchange of information steering committee”, which will feature representatives from all financial services regulators such as the Central Bank and Securities Commission, as well as the Attorney General’s Office, to advice the Ministry of Finance on the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) that is overseen by the OECD and assist co-operation and information sharing between its members. And, besides the mandatory registration requirement, which imposes a penalty of up to $100,000 for breaches, the Bill also introduces a new section
CHANGES - See Page B7
away, in the hopes of persuading the Government to adopt a different approach that works for all sides including consumers. Neither Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, nor Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, responded to Tribune Business calls and messages seeking comment and confirmation of the Government’s position before press time last night. However, other food retailers and advisers to the grocery industry confirmed that Ms Symonette’s concerns - that the industry will be unable to recover, or reclaim, the proportion of VAT input payments that relate to uncooked foods is correct. The Super Value
chief told this newspaper in a subsequent message that the food store chain has calculated “the impact could be up to $300,000-$400,000 per month” through lost or reduced profits, which translates into between $3.6m to $4.8m per year. That would be a significant blow to any business. Another major grocery merchant, speaking on condition of anonymity, echoed Ms Symonette’s fears and estimated that the VAT ‘exempt’ treatment could increase non-staff costs by 7-8 percent from April 1, 2026. They added that the impact will not be confined just to food stores, but all businesses that sell uncooked food, including gas stations and pharmacies.
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Uncooked food elimination leaves business holding bag Gas stations, pharmacies, wholesalers are also impacted Non-staff costs to rise 7-8% amid price hikes warning And wholesalers will also be impacted as they will have to adopt the VAT ‘exempt’ treatment on the uncooked food supplied to retailers. Tribune Business was told that, if wholesalers elect to pass on the extra costs incurred from being unable to reclaim VAT on input expenses related to uncooked food, the cost of goods will likely rise by a further 2-3 percent. A retailer, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that the VAT ‘exempt’ treatment will
further increase the cost and complexity for food stores when it comes to administering the tax and remitting the correct returns and sums to the Ministry of Finance. And financial observers warned that, as opposed to “eating” the increased VAT-related costs, food stores will simply “mark-up” and increase prices on items that are not price controlled to maintain their margins. One argued that the VAT ‘exempt’ treatment will be
TAXATION - See Page B10