'VAT and its implications for The Bahamas and the Bahamian economy' by Zhivargo Laing

Posted by Mike Stafford 
on Aug 15, 2013
 

From BahamaIslandsInfo.com

Former Minister of State for Finance, Zhivargo Laing, addressed a large crowd at the Rotary Club of Freeport meeting on Thursday, August 15, at the Ruby Swiss restaurant on the hot topic of Value Added Tax or VAT.  Text of his speech below:

Mr. President and other executives of the Rotary Club of Freeport, members and guests, members of the media, good afternoon.  I was invited by your president to speak to you about the Value Added Tax (V.A.T.), which, if the Government meets its deadline will be a feature of our tax system commencing in July of next year.  I will not be long I promise but I will try to be clear.  My talk today will seek to answer five questions, namely:

  1. What is V.A.T.?
  2. How does it operate?
  3. Why is it an issue in The Bahamas at this time?
  4. What is likely to happen?
  5. What should happen?
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Photo: President Louis Alleyne (L) and ADG Mike Stafford (R) thank Zhivargo Laing for his informative presentation. (Photo courtesy Derek Carroll)