NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Businesses have warned that the government’s “aggressive” approach to tax enforcement is creating a hostile environment for businesses, with one businessman describing the issue as “beyond ridiculous.”
Brent Burrows II, CBS Bahamas Ltd’s vice president and general manager, took to social media on Tuesday to express his concerns over a visit by the Revenue Enhancement Task Force to the company’s Southwest Plaza location on Monday.
Burrows said that the arrival of a group of 10 agents from several government agencies was unannounced and disruptive. He described it as “deeply alarming” for customers and staff.
“The sight of heavily armed government agents entering a retail store created an atmosphere of fear and confusion. While I understand the objectives of this task force, how this inspection was conducted raises several critical questions,” said Burrows. He questioned the necessity of the surprise visit and the message sent when a ‘routine check’ is accompanied by armed enforcement agents.
“CBS Bahamas is fully compliant and has no history of issues or wrongdoings. This aggressive approach seems excessive and unwarranted. He further questioned why there is a request for printed copies of documents that are already accessible through various government portals, such as Customs entries. “Why target compliant businesses? Shouldn’t efforts be focused on businesses that have a history of non-compliance or issues rather than those that consistently follow the rules?” queried Burrows.
He added: “This was an eye-opening event for me, and it should be for the rest of the business community as well. We are slowly but surely continuing to trend in a direction that is increasingly hostile for Bahamian businesses… Regulatory burdens aside, the intimidation tactics employed during routine checks only serve to create an atmosphere of fear and distrust. We need to address these practices to ensure that businesses are not made to feel under siege but are encouraged to thrive and contribute positively to our economy. The business community and government must work together to foster a supportive and transparent environment,” Burrows stated.
His sentiments were echoed by Peter Maury, the Bay Street marina operator who raised concerns about similar actions by the task force earlier this month during visits to some tourism-based businesses.
“It’s like they have nothing else to do except harass us,” Maury told Eyewitness News. “The portal does not work and if you message it you get no response. I put in a notice of objection because I had a $2800 credit and they won’t credit it to my VAT return. Now it has completely disappeared. If you call they tell you someone will call you back and no one ever does. They are completely overwhelmed and they are frustrating Bahamians with added fines. We are not accountants or bookkeepers. We are mostly good citizens and they are treating us like criminals. It’s creating a serious issue. I have had several good staff members come to me and tell me they can’t handle it. It’s too technical. What am I supposed to do with them? I can’t fire them for the burden of government. They literally have nowhere to turn because DIR won’t help. The whole country is suffering. They have designed this mess to make us fail. It’s beyond ridiculous,” said Maury.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Finance launched a week-long exercise to assist companies in becoming voluntarily compliant with the taxes and fees owed to various government agencies such as the Department of Inland Revenue, Bahamas Customs, the National Insurance Board (NIB), and the Port Department. Head of the Revenue Enhancement Task Force, Commander Bertram Bowleg, dismissed suggestions of intimidation, telling Eyewitness News that the armed officers were there for the protection of the tax collection agents who are now going door-to-door collecting tax revenue, an exercise which has also been undertaken in the Family Islands.
“We are not trying to intimidate anyone. We did a voluntary compliance exercise two weeks ago. We gave businesses a chance to come in and ascertain their level of compliance. We had less than ten percent of businesses here that came in and for those that did we were able to help them become compliant with NIB, Customs, Immigration, etc.,” Commander Bowleg explained.
He added: “We’re now hitting the road and knocking on doors. We’re still trying to help businesses become compliant. We have tax collectors literally on the ground collecting government revenue. Most of the agencies are not law enforcement agencies. We are collecting and because the task force is comprised of tax collectors and law enforcement, the law enforcement is there for protection. We are walking from store to store. The majority of the tax collectors are females, collecting money from businesses and it would be irresponsible for us not to have protection and that’s why there is law enforcement. You have to have protection. Sometimes you go into a store and there may be an aggressive owner and because law enforcement is there they may be more compliant and cooperative.”
Commander Bowleg noted that the task force was offering a service and not forcing anyone to pay, although payment arrangements can be made and businesses are being encouraged to become current with their taxes. “We can’t force persons to pay but we want businesses to be compliant. We are offering a service. If they tell us we can’t have arms then I’ll tell them we can’t do this job. I can’t put people in harm’s way collecting the government revenue.”
