John, you are correct. Why should only Bahamians live in VAT Hell. All I'm doing is warning foreigners that VAT audits are intrusive and are now focusing on non-Vatted imported foreign services.

Bahamian service professionals would also agree with taxing these services because when they provide these services their clients have to pay VAT so it will level the playing field.

The international services provided by foreign firms to trusts, mutual funds and foundations include legal, audit, compliance, accounting, IT, financial information, stock quotes, cloud computing, custodian services, head office recharges etc. The list is very long and the services provided would add up to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Nice to take some VAT out of that to help the Bahamas.

VAT audits now focusing on inward bound international services provided to Trust Companies. None Bahamian based financial services firms now being forced to register for VAT.

Once international financial activity is caputured through the VAT audit process the PLP will realize that the economy is at least $2 billion bigger than the current $8.8 estimate. Which explains partially the much higher than anticipated VAT receipts.

Time to move to BVI before confidential client info is shared with the government via audits. Or worse, foreigners are victimized like thier local counterparts like Bran.

The reason you're not hearing the correct solutions from the politicians is because they truly believe they are running the country correctly.

So when Fred says there is no Bahamian brain drain. You must believe him.

If Fred says there is a good living in the Bahamas for Bahamians then you must believe him.

When Christie says the PLP will fall apart if he doesn't run after 40 years in Parliament please believe him.

As Minnis/Butler runs the FNM into the ground don't be surprised when the PLP wins again.

The average Bahamian with a D average doesn't read these blogs and doesn't really know that a devaluation is on the way. As long as they have their bars, fish fry, church and a trip to Miami I assume they are happy with the way things are?

John, most shareholders have written off their investment in BoB and don't have the time to waste to go to a meeting to appoint a Director with no power to a bank that is broke.

Which successful private business person in their right mind would wish to take up a position of a Director of a Bank with the following characteristics:

(a) in breach of regulatory capital requirements
(b) providing banking services to an only partially licensed gambling industry
(c) a significant amount of assets removed from the balance sheet via Resolve with no prosecution for wrong doing
(d) no forensic audit
(e) government controlled
(f) representational risk and financial risk of being a Director of a failed institution
(g) in ability to put the bank in liquidation
(h) new government employees now forced to bank with BoB
(i) US correspondent bank relationships now in de risking mode. Who would want to be the correspondent for a bank that doesn't meet its capital adequacy requirements
(j) no new private clients would want to put deposits at bank for fear of liquidation
(k) zombie bank status
(l) how much is the government transferring to BoB to keep the bank afloat?
(m) where is new business going to come from with the economy having contracted for 2 years?

I could go on and on.

By the way does anyone know how much they are paying the independent Directors? $10,000 per year? $40,000 per year?

Maybe someone who really needs the money and can be a YES Man for the government should take the position.

I bought my last new cars in 2012. Normally I buy new cars every 5 years. I bought two new Toyota cars. It cost me $120,000 and I was turned down by a Canadian bank. I got the loan from a Bahamian Bank but only after much ado about nothing. Then I comprehensively insured the vehicles.

After VAT, I had to drastically reduce costs. I paid off the loans and put third party on the cars.

I will never ever buy a new car in the Bahamas as long as I live.

Excellent , I will now vote FNM for worthless crown land in Freeport. ... Unless BoB give me a loan against the land.

This is an excellent time to invest hard earned money into the Bahamian economy. With VAT, increased business license fees, increased national insurance rates, BEC distroying all of your equipment, Baha Mar shut down, Moody's threatening to down grad use to junk, opposition fighting amongst themselves like a bunch of children, D average workers, lack of internal controls at Post Office Bank, money missing from Road Traffic, pot hole filled roads, foreigners buying up the family islands, government increased fees on bank transfers, VAT on international services to financial firms, I could go on and on.

Cable Bahamas is over leveraged with hundreds of millions in debt. Facebook the owner of WhatsApp is putting cell phones calls out of business with 100 million new Customers each month covering one sixths of earths populations. Cell phones will be obsolete in 5 years. Smart devices will rule.

So let's follow the recommendations of Sir Frankie and invest in the Bahamas.

This is incompetence at its worst.

If the Landlord (National Insurance) had a proper a/c maintenance agreement in place then, as part of that agreement, the a/c maintenance contractor would be mandated to have all parts to repair the a/c on island. This would increase the cost of maintenance but what is the true cost of having this large building closed? What is the cost of getting out the mold which must be growing in the heat? What is the cost of the employees becoming sick? What is the cost in the disruption in our already dysfunctional educational system?

The Landlord Tenant agreement is also incestuous as the Landlord is the government and the tenant is the Government. So no one complains about anything.

Just the possibility of the Bahamas being downgraded will give investors pause in terms of investing in a Country. Would you want to invest large amounts of money in a place that may have financial problems?

Besides crime, poor infrastructure (electricity, roads, education), inefficient government functioning and negative GDP growth rates, its really expensive to buy and sell a high end property. It actually cost 22% of the purchase price (both buyer and seller costs) to complete a transaction. So if an investor buys a property and then sells it in 5 years, that property will need to increase in price by 50% just for for the transaction to break even.

See attached schedule.

We are relying on foreign investors who are driven by factors other than profits. However as the livability of the Bahamas declines this must have an impact on their investment decisions.

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2016…