NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Opposition leader Michael Pintard yesterday demanded that government remove the Value-Added Tax (VAT) off items it has added to the Price Control Basket, arguing that the government has made a decision that could result in the closure of dozens if not hundreds of businesses.
Pintard said in Parliament yesterday that the Davis administration is the “poster child” for the lack of consultation, pointing to its decision to expand the Price Control Basket without prior consultation with local wholesalers and retailers.
“This new day government is the poster child for the lack of consultation. Ask the retailers in the food sector. Ask the small food stores if they were consulted by the new day government. Did they talk to the pharmacists? We know the answer to that. The government has admitted they did not consult on the impact of the decision on these businesses. This government has made a decision that could possibly close dozens and possibly hundreds of businesses in The Bahamas,” said Pintard.
Pintard repeated his party’s suggestion that government remove VAT from the items which it has added to the Price Control basket.
He also accused the government of failing to conduct impact studies on their policy decisions.
“Just remove VAT, not just on the bread basket items but also on the new list of items that Price Control now covers. This government failed to conduct studies. You are making a life-changing decision for businesses and didn’t even bother to conduct a study to determine what the potential impact is,” Pintard charged.
“This government gets to make mistakes and then challenge the business community to shoulder the responsibility for paying for the mistakes.”
According to the Retail Grocers Association, while the government has announced that 38 items would be added to the Price Control Basket, it is in actuality 38 categories of foodstuffs, which would affect more than 5,000 items to which inventory and price adjustments would have to be made.
The association has argued that the move would be detrimental to the local food wholesale and retail industry.
