FNM MP warns on VAT
By KRYSTEL ROLLE
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com
Shadow Minister for Finance Peter Turnquest suggested on Saturday night that the country would be “jumping off the cliff” if it implements value-added tax (VAT).
Pointing to other Caribbean countries that have implemented VAT, Turnquest said the new tax regime would bring increased hardship.
He was speaking at the Free National Movement’s (FNM) rally in the Alley at the FNM Golden Isles constituency office.
“We don't want to be like Barbados,” he said. “We don't want to be like Grenada. We don't want to be like Haiti. We don't want to be like any of those countries.
“They are crying about VAT. St. Lucia is crying about VAT. We don't want to be like that. We are a prosperous nation.
“...We have a lot to protect. So let's be careful; we don't have to follow the crowd. Everyone is jumping off the cliff. That doesn't mean we have to jump off the cliff. We can chart our own territory.”
He said the government ought to focus its efforts on the collection of outstanding taxes, including an estimated $500 million in real property tax.
Turnquest also called on the government to cut subsidies to public corporations. He said the government also has other options to enhance revenue.
The government plans to implement VAT at a rate of 15 percent on July 1, 2014. The government has said the new tax will reduce the gap between revenue and expenditure and offset rising public debt.
At the start of the next fiscal year, government debt is projected to be $4.9 billion. This year, the government estimates that it will have to pay $230 million to service its debt.
VAT is expected to add an additional $200 million in revenue in the first year of implementation, officials estimate.
While acknowledging that his party had planned to give VAT “early consideration if re-elected”, Turnquest said that doesn’t necessarily mean that VAT would have been implemented under an FNM-led government.
“We would have given it widespread consideration,” he said. “I ask the government to step back and consider other options. Present the opposition with facts. We need proper analysis.”
But former Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing previously said the former administration had planned to implement VAT.
Speaking to Rotarians on the implementation of VAT in August, Laing said: “We have an extraordinary opportunity not to do something modest, but to do something audacious.
“But alas, the only crippling thing that can frustrate that is our political consideration that time may run out on us before we get to the next round of votes. I say to you, resist that temptation and encourage your leadership to resist that temptation.”
Despite earlier suggestions, Turnquest acknowledged that the opposition does not have “sufficient” information on VAT to make an official position.
“How can any responsible party declare a position on VAT without knowing the facts,” he said.
“We don’t know enough information. We have no facts, no analysis, no legislation. How can we give the government cover? That’s silly.”
However, both Turnquest and FNM Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis have already indicated that they do not support the implementation of VAT.
Earlier this month, Minnis described VAT as “regressive”.
In a two-page statement, Minnis said VAT would “seriously impair the already weak, uncompetitive and struggling Bahamian economy and harm and diminish the quality of life of every Bahamian”.
During the rally, Minnis called on the government to stop taxing the country.
Turnquest offered similar statements.
“VAT is not the answer,” he said.
November 25, 2013