By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister is discussing with the Ministry of Finance how to “create a better balance” between its tax compliance crackdown and improving the ‘ease of doing business’.

Khaalis Rolle told Tribune Business he acted as an “internal lobbyist on a daily and hourly basis” within the Government for the private sector, acknowledging business concerns over proposed tax enforcement reforms.

The Minister of State for Investments confirmed that he and his Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) team were having talks with the Ministry of Finance, amid fears that the latter’s initiatives amounted to regulatory ‘overkill’.

“We’re having discussions now with the Ministry of Finance, the investments team, to ensure we create some balance,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business.

“We’ve heard some of the complaints, and the Chamber [of Commerce] have spoken to me directly on some of the matters dating back to the revisions to the Business Licence process.

“With all of the filing initiatives and sign-off requirements, we’ve had discussions and made representations to the Ministry of Finance, which has carriage of these matters,” he added.

“We want to see a balance created between Government processes and what businesses need to be efficient and effective.”

Mr Rolle declined to comment on whether he was personally concerned, emphasising that he first wanted to speak to the Ministry of Finance “to see if we can maximise the opportunity to be as efficient as we can”.

Yet his comments indicate there is some disquiet within the Government itself over the newly-proposed tax compliance measures, which the Christie administration wants to accompany the 2016-2017 Budget.

Tribune Business revealed last week how government agencies, such as the National Insurance Board (NIB), are now enforcing a a legal change passed with the 2015-2016 Budget that requires companies to provide a Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC) in order to obtain payment for goods and services ALREADY rendered.

Companies possessing government contracts worth $10,000 or more now face having to obtain, and provide, a TCC every month in order to obtain due payment.

Meanwhile, legislation accompanying the 2016-2017 Budget includes measures to shorten the Value-Added Tax (VAT) payment window by one week, cutting it from 28 days after period end to 21.

The Government is also seeking to expanding the conditions for obtaining a TCC to cover major shareholders in a company, meaning that all investors owning greater than a 20 per stake - plus all affiliate/subsidiary companies - will also need to be fully paid-up with their taxes.

While there is a general consensus that the Government needs to improve compliance rates hovering around 40 per cent for many non-VAT taxes, many in the private sector fear it is employing the wrong methods.

They feel the proposed measures threaten to over-burden the legitimate, compliant businesses that form the bulk of the Government’s tax base, while further eroding the ‘ease of doing business’ and investor confidence.

Mr Rolle told Tribune Business there needed to be “greater harmony” in the relationship between the Government and private sector, saying that it had too often been “strained”.

The former Chamber of Commerce president, given his history and standing in the private sector, will be more sensitive than most in government to the cries of business over the latest proposals.

And the measures threaten to impact his, and the BIA’s, efforts to promote and attract greater investment from both domestic and foreign sources.

“I see both sides now, and coming from an advocacy background I understand better than most what the concerns of business are,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business. “I provide advice from that perspective.

“I’m an internal lobbyist within the Government on a daily and hourly basis. I constantly lobby the Ministry of Finance and other agencies that impact the ease and speed of doing business.

“I provide the lobby that is necessary. We’re still challenged internally to ensure there is greater harmony between the Government and private sector. There has always been strain between the two,” he added.

“I try as best I can to move things in my control through the system as quickly as possible, and provide a sympathetic ear to the business community. That is one of the purposes I continually serve.

“The Ministry of Finance can tell you I lobby them every day. Internally, I spend more time trying to move things through the system, things inside and outside my control.”

Mr Rolle acknowledged that the Bahamas “falls down” when it comes to facilitating the smooth conduct of commerce, as shown by its constant slippage in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ rankings to 106th spot.

“I’m still one of those individuals who believes we don’t maximise speed and efficiency,” he revealed. “We still have some challenges. The ‘ease of doing business’ is a category where we fall down.”

Mr Rolle said he and the BIA were now having regular, weekly meetings with all government ministries and agencies that dealt with permits/approvals for private sector investors.

Those it meets with regularly include the Ministry of Works and the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology Commission, as it seeks to eliminate bottlenecks and hold-ups in the regulatory process.

“We’re meeting on Monday with various government agencies to look at different concerns that businesses have regarding applications that are in,” the Minister said.

Improving economic and business competitiveness is a key component of the proposed National Development Plan (NDP), for which Mr Rolle has ministerial oversight.

“One of the things businesspeople look at is their interaction with Government, and the cost in terms of man hours and actual dollars and cents,” he told Tribune Business.

“Whenever opportunities to minimise that interaction arise, it results in a saving to business which can go into research and development or the bottom line, and keep people employed.

“All governments should look at reducing what businesses have to spend interacting with them.”

Mr Rolle said the BIA was doing its part, having finally completed a database and website upgrade project, together with a mobile app that will “launch very shortly”.

The BIA mobile app is available from the Google play store, and the Minister added: “All of this is taking a bit more time than I’d like, but it allows people to interact with us at minimal cost.”