With a probable less than 10% reported and pursued in the courts, a waste of time,
and perhaps 80% of pilferers getting away with theft of goods/merchandise,
the cost to business dwarfs $5 million.
Unfortunately the confrontation that inevitably happens with the suspected thief "carrying on sick" within a shop really hampers and discourages efforts at apprehension, particularly if the perp. is armed and willing to do violence.
Most are.
Calculate the stolen fuel costs to consumers on BEC thefts, time theft, sabotage, incompetence,
there isn't much to be said for the Bahamas business environment unless you are a lawyer and can do business from chambers!
A den of thieves unto itself.

VAT is here to stay, one can only hope that it does not cause run away inflation and is collected properly with no exceptions!
Also it needs to be put to the national debt, not the crooked politicians promises bank!
In actuality, lowered duty rates should negate the 7.5% charged, but duty rates have until 2025 to be lowered across the board.
Hence the hope for a revenue windfall.

General orders, Rules of Parliament for M.P's, Cabinet rules and procedures,
NOT available to the public.
Stemming from the General oath of secrecy sworn under British rule,
Even now Government board appointees must swear not to divulge the peoples business.
Under this cloak of secrecy they get away with ignoring the public demands for accountability.

If anyone can bleed them to the poor house, it is Bahamian lawyers and politicians!
Nothing much will change for average working Bahamians.

Meanwhile Halkitis, Rolle and Company are patting each other on the back for the "success" of VAT implementation. VAT is a three part cycle, 1) implementation at the border and end user transactions, 2) remittances 3) compliance!
Add to that the justification for VAT being the national debt, already put on the back burner.
Premature at best, foolhardy at worst.
Compliance in both private and public sector is the critical key.
Already drunk with anticipation on ways to spend the supposed revenue windfall.
Fools.

Bahamians screw each other to the bitter end, even if it burns their own house down,
the Chinese have had thousands of years to learn the lessons we will avoid in spite of ourselves.

So, $120,000, burn up $20,000 worth of materials,
wonder who got the $100,000 balance?
Same ratio on the $50 mil, inflated by cost overruns to $150 Mil,
Gonna be a bigger fire shortly!

I wish this guy could adequately explain VAT and its processes, for instance this statement:
"Timely refunds, which will be paid when a company’s ‘input’ VAT payments exceed its ‘output’ tax payments, are vital to business cash flows"
Since when is government concerned with a businesses cashflow? What bearing does cashflow have on Government? Lacking It may put the business out of business!
Refunds are not due when inputs exceed outputs, refunds on inputs are refundable out of a business VAT throughput if it exceeds inputs.
Or is the smoke clearing?

yep, they have serious investments in the U.S., and all over the caribbean as well,
however, the U.S. and China are in trade with each other almost equally, being dependent on each other at least. We on the other hand, are just begging and get our Chinese products 3rd hand via....
the U.S.
What China is doing with their U.S. $$ is buying influence, or just buying countries outright.
Do we really want a proxy war fought here between the two super powers?
What do we have to offer the Chinese except our U.N. votes?
Strategic location offshore of the U.S.?

VAT on the fuel surcharge is basically a tax on two other taxes,
giving the same problem they already have on fuel gas/diesel sales at the stations.
VAT may be charged on the Kwh usage but not on the fuel.
Government aught to recognize they have a problem on this.