*Income tax is 100% based on residency in literally every jurisdiction, except the US (that has an exemption up to 100k if an taxpayer is not living in the country), despite what this author claims.*

I think the author knows that. Also, residency for tax purposes differs between countries depending on the number of consecutive days you are resident outside of your 'home' country (for tax purposes). Additionally, some countries tax you on your worldwide income (e.g. US) while others tax you on your income solely from within your county of residence (e.g. UK)) as long as you meet the criteria for not being resident in that country for tax purposes.

*Furthermore, it should be noted that income does not only comprise what you earn from your job. Collect NIB or other government assistance? You will pay a tax on that. Collect alimony or child support? You will pay a portion of that in tax.*

I think most of the population that derive their income from the sources you mentioned, would be well below the income threshold suggested by the author, for paying taxes. Having said that, you are correct. And don't forget to add tips & gratuities to the list.

*Since all of the pro-income tax crew care so much about the consumers, surely they will support scrapping VAT in it's entirety if they could theoretically get their wish of an income tax, right?*

Most developed countries have both an income tax and some sort of VAT, GST, or Sales Tax etc. so it wouldn't be unusual to have both, although it would be extremely cruel and unpopular to have both initially.

An excellent letter and right on point !!.

Although, I would disagree slightly with his comment *"So (despite what ignorant politicians sometimes claim), The Bahamas’ high GDP does not reflect the presence here of foreign billionaires"*. As Mr Allen points out, the income of wealthy expatriates who live here doesn't contribute to the Bahamas GDP, but their spending here does. Therefore they do contribute to the GDP. Maybe I'm reading it out of context, in which case I'm sure someone will let me know.

There's not really anyone of note here now, even with with no corporate tax.

Agreed, but I don't know what the solution is.

If you start paying laborers, maids, fast food workers etc. a comparable salary to a college educated position, imagine how much the cost of goods & services will increase.
No matter which way you cut it. businesses are in business to make money, not to lose it, so capitalism isn't going away any time soon. Just look at how your favorite Asian country has boomed ever since the US succeeded in pressuring it into opening up it's economy to the world.
Given the opportunity most of us are capitalists at heart, just with different degrees of expectation.

There's a lot of truth in what you say, but you also need to consider work ethics and sense of entitlement.

It's somewhat akin to the Hispanic farm laborers, gardeners, maids & fast food workers in the US, who do the job that most Americans feel is below them. It's going to be interesting to see what happens in the next 15-20 years as the children of these low paid laborers are now getting a college education and certainly don't expect to be 'working' the fields (like their parents did) with their college degree.

*With the number of vehicles on the streets of the country and each one being taxed an average of $195 a year to be licensed, that should be sufficient taxes to maintain the roads.*

John, you're assuming that all those Bahamian vehicle owners actually pay the $195, when we all know a good proportion of them don't. Tolls can be an effective way of getting all those unlicensed vehicles off the street, thus reducing the congestion.

Too early to say yet. Maybe in a couple of months when we have more data.

I can think of far worse abuses of technology advancements than social media & biotech. WMD's, people smuggling, pedophile networks, financial fraud, identity theft, QAnon (lol), and my own personal pet peeves - Phishing, computer viruses, telemarketers, spam emails, & the Kardashians

*The natural immunity they have is much stronger*

Based on today's news, natural immunity from having had COVID and recovering, is not much use against the omicron variant.

Dude, the funding and control of politicians and bureaucrats, has been going on for decades & decades. It's nothing new. Every major industry & company has highly paid lobbyists living and working in the DC area. It's nothing new, and I personally don't agree with it.