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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
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Gov’t goes high-tech for taxes 5% up on Budget By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government is employing satellite imagery and artificial intelligence (AI) to boost revenue collections that are 4-5 percent ahead of projections for the 2022-2023 fiscal year to-date, a top official disclosed yesterday. Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, told Tribune Business that satellite imagery was especially effective in detecting undeclared property construction in the Family Islands where “explosive growth” in one unnamed area of Abaco had resulted in 200 new homes being built post-Dorian. Declaring that this has reduced real property tax-related work that previously took two to three years to just six weeks, he added that the Department of Inland Revenue
• ‘Explosive growth’ in new builds, vacation rentals • $560m collected so far, with 48% from Customs Wilson told this newspaper that some $260m-$270m or up to 48 percent of this sum had been generated by Bahamas Customs via import VAT, tariffs and Excise Tax. While no targets have been set, he added that the Government’s “ultimate goal” - through increased tax compliance and enforcement that ensures all pay their fair share - is to lower the burden and “effective tax rate” faced by Bahamians
SIMON WILSON by broadening the base of payers and tapping into new revenue streams. Warning that it is still too early to determine how the Government’s revenues are trending, with this month’s VAT collections set to have a significant impact on the 2022-2023 first quarter outcome, Mr Wilson said nevertheless: “We went in slightly ahead of Budget. I would say we
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‘Stars are aligning’ over $3m Nassau Gas raise By NEILHARTNELL and YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporters A BAHAMIAN propane gas (LPG) dealer yesterday said “the stars are aligning” as it seeks up to $3m from Bahamian investors to finance its ambitious growth strategy throughout the country. Mark Newell, Nassau Gas & Tanks principal,
told Tribune Business the company’s offering of up to one-third of its value via the ArawakX crowdfunding platform is coinciding with the easing of cost pressures that have strained both himself and rivals throughout the COVID pandemic. Disclosing that the company’s annual revenues are down 50 percent compared to their $5.9m record, after
the market squeeze forced a suspension of wholesale supplies to other providers, he added that raising the maximum $3m will produce “an immediate 30 percent” top-line growth of around $1m per annum - a number he described as “conservative”. “We want to get back to the good old days,” Mr Newell told this newspaper, pointing out that
unlike a start-up, Nassau Gas & Tanks has been in business since 2004 having built up a retail client base that is split 50/50 between residential and commercial customers. The latter includes the likes of hotels, restaurants and laundromats. With demand for LPG unlikely to moderate, he
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Don’t bail-out stricken parents, banks warned By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN financial institutions were yesterday ordered not to bail-out financially stricken parents or affiliates as part of the “recovery plans” they have to submit to the Central Bank by mid-2023. The regulator, issuing draft guidelines on plans banks and trust company licensees, as well as credit unions, must draw up for combating a solvency crisis and pulling themselves back from the brink,
said the health of Bahamasbased institutions must be placed ahead of the wider group’s. “Where the local entity requires capital and the group is sound, the Central Bank expects, but does not require, a contractual commitment that the group will recapitalise its subsidiary. If the deficiency is small, and the supervised financial institution remains well above its regulatory capital requirement, then local actions such as reduction or suspension of dividends, or
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BISX-listed firm pledges qualified audit ‘clear up’ • Benchmark auditors found ‘unreconcilable’ $337k discrepancy • Top executive blames accounting platform switch for opinion • But asserts impact ‘not material’ against $16m-plus equity
• Satellite images, AI employed to boost revenues
(DIR) was increasingly looking to AI and technology-based solutions to select high-risk taxpayers who should be subjected to audits to determine if they are paying the correct sums in VAT and Business Licence fees. Revealing that the Government has collected $560m in total revenues for the fiscal year to-date, prior to yesterday’s deadline for VAT monthly and quarterly registrants to submit September’s filings, Mr
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BISX-listed company’s top executive yesterday pledged that accounting woes which led to auditors issuing a “qualified” opinion on its 2021 full-year results will be “cleared up” in time for this year’s report. Julian Brown, Benchmark (Bahamas)
president and chief executive, blamed the switch to a new reporting platform for PKF Bahamas’ revealing there was an “unreconcilable” $337,369 discrepancy in the $18.439m sum owed to the financial services provider’s clients. The accounting firm and its lead audit partner, Renee Lockhart, in the opinion attached to
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‘Best bang for dollar’ to counter rate hikes By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS must give all visitors “the best bang for their dollar and ‘A’-plus customer service” as the most effective counter to inflation and continuing US interest rate hikes, a senior tourism official said yesterday. Kerry Fountain, the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board’s executive director, told Tribune
Business that this nation must focus on only “what we can control” after the US Federal Reserve hiked its base interest rate by 0.75 percentage points in a bid to rein in soaring inflation that has also hit this country via its imports. Voicing optimism that pent-up travel demand will still offset the impact of higher prices and borrowing costs in the US, which will combine to further squeeze disposable income
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