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WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018
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Chamber chief: âToo earlyâ for blame game over VAT By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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LAMING the VAT hike for business declines is âthe easy answerâ, Exumaâs Chamber of Commerce chief said yesterday, as the 12 percent rate is felt far more keenly in the Family Islands. Pedro Rolle warned against rushing to judgment over recent ânoticeableâ sales declines at Exumaâs restaurants and food stores, suggesting it was âtoo earlyâ to blame the VAT rate increase when various factors may be involved. A realtor by profession, the Chamber president said he will also be watching the
PM TO UNVEIL $2BN GB DEAL By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE prime minister will today announce the heads of agreement signing for the $2bn revival of the former Ginn project in Grand Bahamaâs West End, sources said last night. Well-placed Tribune Business contacts suggested Dr Hubert Minnis plans to make a big impact before Parliament breaks for the summer recess, with the deal with Toronto-based developer, Skyline Investments, said to have been signed quietly last week. The prime minister will
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* âNoticeableâ restaurant fall-off on Exuma * High season to decide real estate âscare offâ * Rate hike felt more keenly on Out Islands islandâs peak SeptemberNovember season closely to see whether buyers particularly in the foreign second home sector - have been âscared awayâ by the tax increases and change to the definition of owneroccupied property. âThere seems to have been a noticeable decline in the restaurants but they donât have numbers,â Mr Rolle told Tribune Business of the weeks immediately following the VAT rate increase. âTheyâre not saying ten percent less, 20 percent less, but they have
GOVERNANCE reformers last night urged the government to make the Fiscal Responsibility Bill âthe first thing they work onâ when Parliament returns, expressing disquiet over its delay until fall. Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governanceâs (ORG) executive director, expressed âdisappointmentâ on the civil society groupâs behalf that the legislation will now only be brought to Parliament after the summer recess.
By NATARIO MCKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net WESTERN Air is eyeing route expansion both domestically and internationally, having made a âmulti-millionâ investment to upgrade its fleet through the addition of three new jets. Sherrexcia âRexyâ Rolle, the Bahamian airlineâs vicepresident of operations and general counsel, told Tribune Business yesterday that it was upgrading its fleet with the addition of three 50-seat Embraer 145 jets. The company has already taken possession of one, and expects to receive the rest in the coming months. âCurrently we are in the process of upgrading our
He told Tribune Business that the Fiscal Responsibility Bill was âcritically importantâ to placing The Bahamas âon a more fiscally buoyant positionâ, boosting transparency and accountability over the governmentâs finances while also imposing greater spending discipline. Mr Aubry urged the Minnis administration that the billâs passage to Parliament ânot be delayed any furtherâ than Autumn 2018, given that it represents the government fulfilling its side of the fiscal consolidation bargain following
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Contractors differ over VAT waiver By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net TOP Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) executives yesterday took opposing stances on the industryâs ability to access the âwaiverâ from 12 pecent VAT on pre-existing contracts. Leonard Sands, pictured, the BCAâs president, told Tribune Business that contractors were still incurring 12 percent VAT payments âout of pocketâ on materials purchased locally or imported for projects âin progressâ that were supposed to be honoured at the pre-existing 7.5 percent rate.
in summer. âAll heâs saying to me is it reduced,â the Exuma Chamber president added, suggesting the poor quality of business record-keeping on the island made it hard to determine the cause of such trends. âThe easier answer is to blame it on VAT, but thatâs the easier answer and it might not be the correct answer,â Mr Rolle told Tribune Business. âIâm a little bit hesitant to talk about that in terms of the reasons for the decline. I think itâs a little
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Bahamian airline in âmulti-millionâ growth
Make Fiscal Bill âfirst thing worked onâ after summer By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
noticed a decline in the numbers coming in. âIâd hate to put that all on VAT. One of the reasons could be itâs summer. So many people travel, and we have less visitors in summer, so it could be a combination of factors. Weâll be better able to assess the issue in September, as itâs really difficult to know in summer.â Mr Rolle said one of Exumaâs major food stores had informed him it had seen a decline in business as well, but this was difficult to assess as well given that sales typically dropped off
too early to tell.â In his industry, real estate, he suggested it might take three months before the impact from 12 percent VAT and other budgetrelated tax changes is truly felt. âOur expectation is this year will be a better year for real estate than last year,â Mr Rolle said. âBetween September to November is the high season, and if that doesnât happen weâll be able to tell definitely if people have been scared away by the VAT. We donât want to be quick, but equally we donât want to be lazy in coming to these conclusions. Letâs give it a while and see how it works out.â Roderick Simms, head
He blamed the absence of âconcrete documentsâ from the Department of Inland Revenue (DIR) showing that contractors engaged on projects underway, or signed, before July 1 were entitled to pay the lower rate. But Tameka Hanna, the
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* Western Air adding three jets to fleet * Will open up bigger passenger market * Looking at local, international expansion
REXY ROLLE fleet. We made an investment in Embraer 145 jets, which are 50 seaters that are operated right now by American Eagle and a
few other regional carriers,â she said. âEssentially the goal is to improve upon what we already have going,
especially between Freeport and Nassau, but also to expand our routes nationally and, hopefully, internationally as well. I think the Embraer 145s are a great solution for that.â Ms Rolle added: âIâd like to believe we are getting close to completing the certification process. We have been working with the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority to get that done because it will be the first of its kind registered in The Bahamas. We have taken
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$4.94 Tourismâs counterattack against exbeauty queen
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Ministry of Tourism is claiming it could not have breached a former Bahamian beauty queenâs copyright because of her deal with the Junkanoo Carnival organisers. The government agency, in a furious counter-attack against Khiara Sherman, pictured, the former Miss Bahamas Universe, knits together the various rules governing the 2015 Bahamas Song Competition to allege that she released it from any copyright infringement liability over the use of her Fly Away With Me track. The Ministry, in its July 17, 2018, counter-claim, said it was one of the Bahamas National Festival Commissionâs (BNFC) sponsors that Mrs Sherman agreed to âindemnify, release and hold harmlessâ for any damages relating to her participation in promotional activity involving her song. As a result, it is claiming her copyright infringement lawsuit over the Ministry of Tourismâs use of Fly Away With Me without her purported permission violates The Bahamas song competitionâs rules. Calling on the south
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