The development focus should be on the Out Islands, as the population needs to be shifted out of Nassau. That place has gotten so out of hand with crime that who of us from the outside would logically decide that's where we would want to go and enjoy our time and your country? There are shootings and killings there every week. When was the last time multiple people in 1 week were killed in Abaco? Exuma? Eleuthera? That's where projects need to be developed to attract the new base for your economy and reduce the pressure on an already overpopulated New Providence.
I know that some of you are shaking your head and saying to yourself or the ppl in the room with you that this Cracker is crazy (loco gringo here in Mexico) and we are not going to sell our birthright and all of our land here in the Bahamas to foreigners. Well that's certainly your RIGHT to take that position, but I can afford to watch from afar as you go down with your beloved ship, aka the Bahamas, as it ultimately defaults on it's debt and your real situation gets so much worse. Can you afford to allow that to happen? All in the name of not wanting foreigners to own some of your land? You have so much undeveloped land in your country that it seems hardly a difficult concession to make in light of the salvation that it will bring in the preservation of your nation, as the handwriting is clearly on the wall.
For those of you who have read this far, thank you, and I'd like to address the income tax concept. It is a horrible idea. Use the USA for your example. The staffing & overhead required to collect and enforce your new tax code would be overwhelmingly counterproductive. And the tax code in the USA is so huge and complex that not even all of the accountants understand, much less the citizens. And yours would eventually end up there too and the Accountants & Lawyers would successfully lobby to keep it in tact and make it even more difficult so that their jobs and income would be secured into perpetuity.
K-I-S-S - Keep It simple Sweetheart. Your concept of VAT was brilliant if one needs taxation. It is SIMPLE, straightforward, easy to collect at the point of sale and based upon consumption. If you don't go buy a new TV with the money you earned, then you don't pay VAT on that TV and get to SAVE some of the money that you have earned. The Bahamas will ultimately end up with a 15%-16% VAT to make ends meet and that will be perhaps the maximum that you can withstand before REVOLT sets in. But stay away from income tax and plz consider my suggestions on how to rebuild your economy. I am available to consult on this effort if ever needed for serious consideration or implementation.
FIRST let me say that i love the bahamas, it's beautiful waters, rugged but awesome Cays and the colorful and special people that live there. I have been visiting for over 30 years now and the Out Islands are the greatest place in the world.
however, your nation is in a sad state of financial condition. YES there is corruption in every government and money gets wasted or redistributed to those in power for their own personal gain (in my home country of the USA, there is as much corruption as in any country (generally at the higher levels) and I also live in Mexico which is corrupt at every level) and surely the Bahamas has their share of this and that doesn't help the situation.
You are finding yourselves in a situation that you cannot tax your way out of. There just isn't enough money out there in your current economy to make it work. The bleeding MUST be stopped at the highest government levels and continue down through the ranks to the local levels. What you need is more DFI (Direct Foreign Investment) because you cannot generate enough from within, so that's you only option. How do you do this? You make your investment environment attractive enough to entice those with the capital to risk it in your country. In the US and Mexico we are experiencing a huge positive market impact in the retirement of the Baby Boomers, those turning 65 and retiring or trying to. Of course many have not saved enough to live the way they would like to, nor can they afford the Bahamas, but many have and that's who you need to target. You must make the Bahamas affordable to more than just the 1%'ers or those that have more than $1MM USD in annual income. There just are not enough of those to go around and you are already getting most of those that you are going to be getting anyway. IF your government's less than user friendly bureaucracy that has been created would be revised to make the experience more user friendly and profitable, then you could build the base on which to increase your economy.
I am sure that the Bahamas is suffering form the brain drain, as has Cuba and many other countries. Whereby your best and brightest that are native Bahamians get educated there or abroad and then settle outside of the Bahamas and make their lives elsewhere, which does not benefit or asset the Bahamas as a nation. stop the brain drain and give them a reason to want to return or remain and make their lives in your country - in their country.
RECO says...
PART 2 of 2
The development focus should be on the Out Islands, as the population needs to be shifted out of Nassau. That place has gotten so out of hand with crime that who of us from the outside would logically decide that's where we would want to go and enjoy our time and your country? There are shootings and killings there every week. When was the last time multiple people in 1 week were killed in Abaco? Exuma? Eleuthera? That's where projects need to be developed to attract the new base for your economy and reduce the pressure on an already overpopulated New Providence.
I know that some of you are shaking your head and saying to yourself or the ppl in the room with you that this Cracker is crazy (loco gringo here in Mexico) and we are not going to sell our birthright and all of our land here in the Bahamas to foreigners. Well that's certainly your RIGHT to take that position, but I can afford to watch from afar as you go down with your beloved ship, aka the Bahamas, as it ultimately defaults on it's debt and your real situation gets so much worse. Can you afford to allow that to happen? All in the name of not wanting foreigners to own some of your land? You have so much undeveloped land in your country that it seems hardly a difficult concession to make in light of the salvation that it will bring in the preservation of your nation, as the handwriting is clearly on the wall.
For those of you who have read this far, thank you, and I'd like to address the income tax concept. It is a horrible idea. Use the USA for your example. The staffing & overhead required to collect and enforce your new tax code would be overwhelmingly counterproductive. And the tax code in the USA is so huge and complex that not even all of the accountants understand, much less the citizens. And yours would eventually end up there too and the Accountants & Lawyers would successfully lobby to keep it in tact and make it even more difficult so that their jobs and income would be secured into perpetuity.
K-I-S-S - Keep It simple Sweetheart. Your concept of VAT was brilliant if one needs taxation. It is SIMPLE, straightforward, easy to collect at the point of sale and based upon consumption. If you don't go buy a new TV with the money you earned, then you don't pay VAT on that TV and get to SAVE some of the money that you have earned. The Bahamas will ultimately end up with a 15%-16% VAT to make ends meet and that will be perhaps the maximum that you can withstand before REVOLT sets in. But stay away from income tax and plz consider my suggestions on how to rebuild your economy. I am available to consult on this effort if ever needed for serious consideration or implementation.
On Income tax is NOT ruled out
Posted 16 September 2017, 2:12 p.m. Suggest removal
RECO says...
PART 1 of 2
FIRST let me say that i love the bahamas, it's beautiful waters, rugged but awesome Cays and the colorful and special people that live there. I have been visiting for over 30 years now and the Out Islands are the greatest place in the world.
however, your nation is in a sad state of financial condition. YES there is corruption in every government and money gets wasted or redistributed to those in power for their own personal gain (in my home country of the USA, there is as much corruption as in any country (generally at the higher levels) and I also live in Mexico which is corrupt at every level) and surely the Bahamas has their share of this and that doesn't help the situation.
You are finding yourselves in a situation that you cannot tax your way out of. There just isn't enough money out there in your current economy to make it work. The bleeding MUST be stopped at the highest government levels and continue down through the ranks to the local levels. What you need is more DFI (Direct Foreign Investment) because you cannot generate enough from within, so that's you only option. How do you do this? You make your investment environment attractive enough to entice those with the capital to risk it in your country. In the US and Mexico we are experiencing a huge positive market impact in the retirement of the Baby Boomers, those turning 65 and retiring or trying to. Of course many have not saved enough to live the way they would like to, nor can they afford the Bahamas, but many have and that's who you need to target. You must make the Bahamas affordable to more than just the 1%'ers or those that have more than $1MM USD in annual income. There just are not enough of those to go around and you are already getting most of those that you are going to be getting anyway. IF your government's less than user friendly bureaucracy that has been created would be revised to make the experience more user friendly and profitable, then you could build the base on which to increase your economy.
I am sure that the Bahamas is suffering form the brain drain, as has Cuba and many other countries. Whereby your best and brightest that are native Bahamians get educated there or abroad and then settle outside of the Bahamas and make their lives elsewhere, which does not benefit or asset the Bahamas as a nation. stop the brain drain and give them a reason to want to return or remain and make their lives in your country - in their country.
see part 2 next
On Income tax is NOT ruled out
Posted 16 September 2017, 2:11 p.m. Suggest removal