Mr. Moss needs to start a class action lawsuit against the government on this crap! This is not how government should get this information.

It's not just the recent ridiculous amendment to the VAT Act, but also the fact that Bahamians and their businesses were not carved out of and made exempt from the onerous economic substance form filling that their registered agents must do annually under CESRA, 2023, even though most of these companies only do business in the Bahamas, and in many instances only hold real property in The Bahamas for their Bahamian owner(s).

Our doofus AG and the other incompetent douchebags who hold leadership positions with departments and agencies that fall under the Ministry of Finance, like Inland Revenue, have little if any common sense, and they behave as if they have a mandate to make life as difficult as possible for honest and hard working Bahamians.

These imbeciles wrongfully assume we are all crooks and tax dodgers in order to justify their own laziness in adopting a draconian "one-size-fits-all" policy to everything because of their immature power crazed mentality that drives their insatiable appetite for more and more form filling and paperwork, no matter how outrageously costly and unfair the burden may be for Bahamians, their businesses, and their service providers.

The cost of doing any kind of business in the Bahamas is literally putting legitimate and hard working Bahamians out of business and denying young entrepreneurs the opportunity to establish new "start-up" businesses. Dare I ask, just how stupid can doofus AG Pinder, corrupt PM Davis, Always Angry Simple Simon, and Dumbo Halkitis, all actually be??!!

Government has no idea what it is doing. It just creates new laws with the hope it may raise revenue and with no consideration of the amount of time and work it takes the private sector to enforce. But then again Government is lead by numerous people who never would make it in the private sector if it wasn't for their public connections.

Lawyer run businesses. The DPM is a businessman.
There are numerous businessmen in Parliament.

That is no excuse for these stupid laws. Paul Moss is right that the Government wants to take the lazy way out by making untold demands on the private sector to account in order for the public sector to collect Revenue on the cheap.

This is but the tip of the iceberg because, as a constitutional democracy, I do not recollect a national referendum ever having been held whereby the Bahamian people approved an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to empower the government to impose income tax of any kind on our people. Yet the government has been using the Business License Act as a backdoor means of taxing businesses owned by Bahamians based on their revenue which is tantamount to an unconstitutional taxed based on income.

Also our government now plans on using the OECD/EU economic substance reporting platform built into CESRA, 2023, as a spring board for eventually imposing direct income tax on all Bahamians and their businesses at a minimum rate of 15%. This too would be unconstitutional without an amendment to our Constitution duly approved by the Bahamian people in a national referendum.

Our Constitution only empowers the government to fund itself by way of customs duties, license fees, stamp taxes, excise taxes, real property tax, and similar funding mechanisms like VAT. Nowhere in our Constitution does it state that the government is empowered by the people to impose on them or their businesses any kind of direct or indirect income tax based on the income, gains, or profits they derive from their own personal work effort or business activities.

The ever increasing funding demanded from the private sector by our corrupt and incompetent politicians, and their local and foreign cronies engaged in much waste and fraud associated with rampant crony capitalism, only serves to fuel, nurture and grow (exacerbate) the already grossly over-bloated size of our very costly government, thereby creating an unsustainable social welfare state that is increasingly vulnerable to quick collapse under the weight of enormous continuing deficits and a national debt that cannot be repaid. This would leave us fitting the very definition of what President Trump calls a "shiit-hole" nation.

We also need to think about the level of education the people have who are receiving these 100's of thousands of forms. There is a 90% chance that they cannot read very well and are not capable of transposing the words on the forms into an electronic database of some sort. So I would humbly suggest that these forms be completed by hand and in join-on (or cursive). In that way the information provided will never be read by the VAT office but you would have completed your obligation.

How about seeing it as The Freedom of Information Act? The same should be for political candidates and current ministers . Corruption is like candy in the country.

***Question: Does the Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas empower the Bahamian Government to impose income tax on the Bahamian people?***

**ChatGBT Response:** The Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas does not explicitly grant the government the authority to impose income tax on its citizens. Instead, the Constitution outlines the procedures for introducing and passing "Money Bills," which pertain to the imposition or increase of taxes. According to the Constitution, a "Money Bill" is defined as a bill that makes provision for the imposition or increase of any tax. Such bills must be introduced in the House of Assembly and, upon passage, are sent to the Senate. The Senate may not amend a Money Bill, and if it does not pass the bill within one month, the House of Assembly may proceed to pass it without the Senate's consent.

However, the Constitution does not specify the types of taxes that can be imposed. Historically, The Bahamas has not levied an income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, or corporate tax. Instead, the government relies on other forms of taxation, such as consumption taxes, property taxes, and import duties. For example, the Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in 2015 at a rate of 7.5%, increased to 12% in 2018, and now stands at 10%.

In summary, while the Constitution provides the framework for the government to impose taxes through the legislative process, it does not explicitly empower the government to impose income tax. The absence of an income tax aligns with the country's historical tax policies.

***Question: Is a national referendum necessary to amend the Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in order for the Bahamian Government to be empowered to impose income tax on the Bahamian people?***

**ChatGBT Response:** To empower the Bahamian Government to impose income tax, an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas would be necessary. The Constitution does not explicitly grant the government the authority to levy income tax; therefore, such a power would need to be introduced through a constitutional amendment.

The process for amending the Constitution is outlined in Article 54, which specifies that Parliament may alter any provision of the Constitution by passing an Act of Parliament supported by at least two-thirds of all members in both the House of Assembly and the Senate. Additionally, the proposed amendment must be submitted to the electors qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Assembly, and a majority of those voting must approve the Bill.

Therefore, a national referendum is required as part of the constitutional amendment process to grant the government the authority to impose income tax. This referendum allows the electorate to approve or reject the proposed change, ensuring that such a significant alteration to the nation's tax system reflects the will of the people.