11222021 BUSINESS

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business@tribunemedia.net

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2021

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‘Not a dollar back’ in tax arrears deal By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN ABACO district council is hoping “the third time” is a charm in persuading the Government to honour an agreement where it has “not got a dollar back” from unpaid taxes it has recovered. Jeremy Sweeting, the Hope Town district’s chief councillor, told Tribune Business he and fellow councillors were now “cautiously optimistic” following a recent meeting with Ministry of Finance officials that they will finally receive a rebate on the collected tax arrears that could be as high as $60,000. The officials, including Senator Michael Halkitis,

• Hope Gov’t honours rebate at ‘third time’ of asking • District ‘pressed brakes’ after collecting $900,000 • Model for Out Island autonomy if followed through minister of economic affairs, and Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, had “promised to come through” after Mr Sweeting warned that the council - in the absence of any progress - would seek legal advice over enforcing a legally binding agreement that could act as a model for financing Out Island community needs.

He confirmed that Hope Town had “pressed the brakes” on the deal after just one year due to the Government failing to fulfill its side of the bargain, which was to return between 2-10 percent of any real property tax arrears collected within its jurisdiction for use in financing projects that would benefit the local community.

Revealing that some $900,000 in real property taxes, of which almost $600,000 was past due, had been collected from foreign property owners, including wealthy second home buyers, in that year, Mr Sweeting said the agreement could provide a template for the decentralisation of Bahamian governance and greater self-determination for the Out Islands if followed through. For, looking beyond real property taxes, Hope Town’s chief councillor said the recent Ministry of Finance discussions had also focused on how local government could assist with collecting other taxes

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Port: No tariff increase as income jumps 48% By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NASSAU’S major commercial shipping port has no plans to increase tariffs “in the near term”, its top executive has affirmed, after operating income increased by $1m in its 2022 first quarter.

Dion Bethell, Arawak Port Development Company’s (APD) president and chief financial officer, told Tribune Business that the BISX-listed port owner/ operator has no plans to adjust projections for the year to end-June 2022 yet despite enjoying a 48.2 percent year-over-year total

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ARAWAK PORT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

Cable hails $75m spend for record Internet year By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net CABLE Bahamas says a $75m network investment over the past three years enabled its Internet business to enjoy its “best ever” year during COVID-19’s peak with subscribers hitting 56,000. The BISX-listed communications group, in its just released 2021 annual report, said its legacy REV business - TV, Internet

and fixed-line telephone generated almost $80m in top-line revenue during the period to end-July 2021. “Broadband remains the cornerstone of our business, and in 2021, REVNET broadband had its best year in company history, with 56,000 broadband connections - safeguarding a two- thirds share of the broadband market,” Cable Bahamas told shareholders.

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Realtor questions VAT break for ‘rich’ buyers By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A REALTOR yesterday questioned why the Government is effectively giving a break to “rich” overseas real estate buyers while raising VAT on the poor by taxing ‘breadbasket’ food items again. Peter Dupuch, ERA Dupuch’s founder and president, told Tribune Business that billionaire and millionaire property purchasers - in what is the most active market he has seen in a 30-year career - would not be deterred by a two percentage point increase in the VAT rate on the transaction portion above. The VAT Amendment Bill tabled in Parliament by the newly-elected Davis administration reverses a modest tax adjustment implemented by its predecessor just over four months ago, reducing the rate on the value above $2m from 12 percent to 10 percent once again.

While acknowledging the stimulative effect this was likely to have for an alreadybooming high-end property market, Mr Dupuch nevertheless also urged the Government to focus on collecting the $600m in real property tax said by the Auditor General’s Department to be outstanding instead of rewarding delinquent taxpayers with amnesties. The recent amnesty, introduced by the former Minnis administration, collected $37.5m in tax arrears but, according to the Ministry of Finance, involved writingoff a further $61.9m that was owed in the process. This meant the initiative collected some 39.4 percent less than the sum written-off. “I don’t agree with VAT. You’re taxing the poor people and taking two percentage points off the rich people, while taxing the breadbasket items. I don’t agree with that at all, but it’s going to do well with real estate,” Mr Dupuch said.

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