business@tribunemedia.net
MONDAY, JULY 1, 2024
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‘Under siege’
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• Businesses: Tax Task Force treating us like criminals • One says: ‘It makes you wonder why I’m in business’ • Marinas chief: ‘Think about the optics’ for our tourists
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
due to the multiple changes to tax laws and regulations in recent years that have left the private sector struggling to keep up. Pointing to this year’s Business Licence fee payments, which he said required companies to pay for both 2023 and 2024, the Superwash chief said the anticipated introduction of corporate income tax is now “looming over us”. Ben Albury, the Bahamas Motor Dealers Association’s (BMDA) president, voiced similar sentiments as he told this newspaper that several
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Pilots ‘blindsided’ over Customs fee increase By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net PRIVATE aviation was yesterday said to have been “blindsided” by Customs fee increases due to take effect today that will result in the sector paying more than a Boeing commercial jet airliner. Rick Gardner, a Bahamas Flying Ambassador and director of CST Flight Services, which provides flight co-ordination and trip support services to the private aviation industry, told Tribune Business that himself,
other private pilots and the wider tourism industry appeared to be “the last to know” of the changes to fees set out in the Customs regulations. The Customs Management (Amendment) Regulations 2024, which come into effect today to coincide with the Budget’s passage and start of the 2024-2025 fiscal year, change the aircraft inbound and outbound fee structure such that it appears a private plane with more than four seats will pay three
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Briland resort demanding $913k from horse venture
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN businesses “feel under siege” from the Government’s tax enforcers treating legitimate operators as if they are common criminals, private sector leaders have blasted. Dionisio D’Aguilar, Superwash’s principal and a former Cabinet minister, told Tribune Business that senior revenue and tax officials “must get the mindset that every business is dishonest out of their head” as he slammed the participation of heavily-armed officers in tax compliance checks as “complete overkill”. Speaking on the controversy sparked by machine gun-toting police and Defence Force officers accompanying tax officials on visits to CBS Bahamas and other firms, the ex-tourism and aviation minister said the entire business community was “shocked and appalled at the seemingly aggressive way” that the Maritime Revenue Enhancement Task Force is operating. Asserting that “90-95 percent” of Bahamian companies are likely compliant with their tax and fee obligations, Mr D’Aguilar suggested that “most of those who aren’t” were likely unaware they were in arrears
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A TOP Briland resort is demanding that a Bahamian-owned horse riding business pay it $912,500 within ten days or face the threat of legal action as their long-simmering dispute reignites. Pink Sands, which employs a 70-strong staff, issued the legal demand to Byron Bullard, principal of B&B Horseback Riding, at the weekend while claiming it has lost revenue “in the region of $1m” because guests cannot use its highend cottages with his stables “not even 20 feet away”. Mr Bullard, whose horses have been described as “iconic” and a major attraction for visitors and day-trippers, yesterday told Tribune Business that the resort appeared determined
to force him and his business off the beach through aggressive legal tactics. “They don’t want me on the beach, period. That’s what they’re trying to do,” he said. Asked how he planned to respond, Mr Bullard told this newspaper: “I’ll wait to see what my lawyer says tomorrow. I’ll wait on him. I’ll let him lead the flock and see what happens.” Documents seen by Tribune Business show Pink Sands is demanding the $912,500, calculated at the rate of $500 per day, as compensation for Mr Bullard and his business having allegedly “unlawfully occupied” the south-east corner of the resort’s property until they moved to Crown Land immediately adjacent to their former location.
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