I guess you'all didn't read Marlon Johnson yesterday. He say a task force is about to start investigating businesses and business licenses and VAT reportings by businesses because they believe both are being under reported by many businesses. This is partly because of the great fall off in both business license fees and vat revenue after the vat was increased by 60% last year. So they are about to launch another assault on businesses.

#He called for “more aggressive write-offs and recognition of losses” on credit that will prove difficult to recover, as well as the rapid sell-off of foreclosed properties and further restructurings with borrowers who still have some ability to pay.

Is John Rolle asking for the impossible? The banks hold on to non-performing loans because the depressed market will not allow them to dispose of them as readily as they wish. And once they foreclose they have to evict the owners. Once this is done the property becomes exposed to vandalism. So they hold on to the loan, allowing the borrower to remain on the property until they can secure a buyer. And many Bahamians who have already experienced a mortgage nightmare with banks and not too anxious to jump into bed with them again. And many banks have increased their requirements for borrowers and are not too anxious to make loans with persons who barely qualify.

So when did ‘relaxing the rules on Cannabis’ come to mean legalizing it? This country is still a good ways from wanting to have marijuana legalized for Recreational purposes. And as for those who see persons suffer and deteriorate with cancer or other painful ailments where cannibis or its by products could have eased the suffering, now you know what the snake on the medical symbol represents. Marijuana based medical products are not snake oil.

And yet we act so shocked by the numbers of persons suffering from kidney diseases and complete kidney failure in this country. Have you forgotten where the US was spraying all the marijuana fields in Jamaica and Mexico with prarquat and other chemicals that were harmful to humans and cause illness lloke kidney failure? They probably killed more people than marijuana ever will some who never even smoked weed.

Isn’t the civil case still pending? At least Simon is human.

And your point?

#In the US, marijuana is still illegal at the federal level; however, medical marijuana is legal in 33 states, with recreational use legal in 10 states.

There are several reasons the federal government (1) wants to keep marijuana as a schedule 1 drug and (2) keep it illegal despite its proven medical benefits. Many in the federal government have interests or friends and family who have interest in the pharmaceutical companies who stand to lose Billions if marijuana based products were to replace a number of the high cost drugs they produce. And for recreational marijuana the cigarette and alcohol companies already have empirical data that recreational marijuana can cut into their sales by as much as 50% over five years. Those who are not willing to retool and sell legalized weed will see substantial loss in profits and some will go out of business. And the DEA and CIA still want to use marijuana to launch attacks on small nations and minorities in the US. The only way they can justify these efforts is to keep marijuana listed as the most dangerous drugs on the planet. And when America lights up a joint, The Bahamians get high.

Another example is a couple deciding to build a home. So they scale down their original plans for their dream home to value under $250,000. So they they pay no property taxes. Tax avoidance and perfectly legal.

Example of tax avoidance: A Bahamian orders items from Amazon. So rather than having them shipped to Nassau and having to pay customs duties and vat, they have them shipped to Miami. Then they fly over and bring them as checked baggage and declare their customs duty exemption when they arrive in The Bahamas. That, dummy, is tax avoidance, perfectly legal.

*Suggesting it could reach to $100m, Mr Johnson told this newspaper there were “substantial opportunities” to improve the Government’s revenue intake by targeting fraud, tax evasion and avoidance, plus monies that slipped through cracks in the system due to inefficiencies and poor administration.*

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Can someone please tell this dummy or the persons on whose behest he speaks, ***tax avoidance*** is not illegal nor is it a crime.