business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2024
$5.65
$5.69
$5.59
$5.61
‘Meat, not potatoes’: Gov’t loses on 75% of used autos
Aviation fee hikes threat to ‘competitive advantage’
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Government is losing “massive amounts” of revenue on 75 percent of used vehicles imported into The Bahamas, one auto dealer is arguing, as he urged: “Go after the meat, not the potatoes.” Brent Fox, Montague Motors’ principal, told Tribune Business that unlicensed used car salesmen/ importers and Internet sales are causing the Public Treasury to miss out on potentially lucrative tax earnings as he urged Customs to enforce the two-vehicle per year limit above which auto buyers are considered dealers. Suggesting that lack of regulation is helping to facilitate the used Japanese vehicle scam highlighted earlier this week by the Consumer Protection Commission, he added that his previous pleas for
• Dealers: Treasury losing ‘massive amounts’ of revenue • Urge Customs to enforce two vehicle per year limitation • ‘Blind eye’ turned to unlicensed operators ‘in plain sight’ action from Ministry of Finance and Department of Inland Revenue (DIR) officials have produced no response. Mr Fox told this newspaper: “I’ve already been down to numerous people explaining what’s going on. I went down to the Department of Inland Revenue and spoke to Shunda Strachan [the acting comptroller]. I’m telling her: ‘We’re struggling here. I’m paying bills off from years ago and trying to stay current with
everything, and threequarters of the cars coming are for people not paying Business Licence or VAT’. “It’s crazy what’s going on. I can say about threequarters of the cars coming in are for people doing that sort of importation. There’s maybe two dozen players bringing in five to ten cars each in addition to a lot of fraud going on. The Government is not collecting their dues on these cars. They are not collecting VAT on the sale and Business Licence fees.”
Mr Fox reiterated longstanding auto dealer concerns that they are being forced to compete on an uneven playing field against unlicensed roadside dealers, who pop-up at different locations offering multiple vehicles for sale at the same time, but paying no Business Licence fees, National Insurance Board contributions and real property taxes, or VAT on the sales transaction. He argued that the Government is also losing VAT on online used auto purchases by Bahamians and only collecting the tax when they arrive at the border. “These people in Japan or around the world are selling cars into our market and they’re not paying any Business Licence fees in selling direct to consumers here,” Mr Fox added.
SEE PAGE B7
DPM: Bahamasair’s $24m loss really ‘an investment’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE deputy prime minister yesterday said he views Bahamasair’s multimillion dollar ‘red ink’ as “an investment, not a loss” because of the airline’s importance to tourism and the wider economy. Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, in addressing the House of Assembly on legislative reforms to maintain The Bahamas’ top-tier status with US aviation regulators, disclosed that the national flag carrier had been able
CHESTER COOPER to slash its annual loss by 20 percent year-over-year to $24m for 2023. Hailing Bahamasair’s chief financial officer and his team for bringing the
SEE PAGE B7
‘Victims of own success’: LPIA needs $200m spend By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NASSAU’S major airport requires a $200m expansion to support “phenomenal growth” in tourist and passenger traffic, the deputy prime minister revealed yesterday, adding: “We are victims of our own success.” Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, told the House of Assembly in leading-off a debate on legislative reforms to ensure The Bahamas retains its top-tier status with US aviation regulators that he frequently has to “wait for a gate” to become available when arriving at Lynden Pindling International
Airport (LPIA) due to heavy aircraft volumes. “NAD saw approximately 3.5m arriving and departing passengers at Lynden Pindling International Airport between July 2023 and April 2024, representing a 10 percent increase over the same period in the prior fiscal year,” he said. “The ongoing airside infrastructure improvements and international parking lot equipment upgrades will enhance passenger experiences. “But, frankly Madam Speaker, at LPIA we are victims of our success in tourism. As a result of overwhelming traffic and increased airlift, we are
SEE PAGE B4
A SENIOR tourism executive yesterday warned The Bahamas is “eliminating our competitive advantage” every time it raises fees on a private aviation industry that brings in one out of every six stopover visitors. Kerry Fountain, the Bahama Out Island Promotion Board’s executive director, told Tribune Business that private pilots will “fly beyond us if they feel slighted” as he lamented the failure to consult, and provide advance warning, to the sector on the increased Customs fees that took effect on Monday. Asserting that better collaboration would “make for a good partnership” with an industry responsible for bringing more stopover visitors to The Bahamas than Canada, Europe and Latin America combined, he added that the manner in which the increases have been implemented is no reward for private aviation’s loyal support for this nation.
KERRY FOUNTAIN Mr Fountain, noting that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s president had earlier this year encouraged all his members to continue flying to The Bahamas when the media frenzy over the US crime alert was at its height, told this newspaper that it “blew my mind” that this nation continues to repeat past mistakes. Referring to a July 2, 2013, report headlined ‘Pilots caught off-guard by new Customs fee’, he added that history now seems to be repeating itself given that the new aircraft inbound and outbound fee
SEE PAGE B6