The government called for the pursuit of improved tax compliance and tax fairness – Eye Witness News

The Bahamas, Nassau-Governance reformers said yesterday that the government should step up its tax reform efforts with a view to bringing higher levels of compliance and greater equity to the system.

Hubert Edwards, head of the Economic Development Commission of the Organization for Responsible Governance (ORG), noted recent exposures by the Inland Revenue Department that tax delinquency has reached nearly $ 1 billion over the past few years.

Edwards has that total It is equivalent to about 10% of the national debt of the country.

“Given how much the country has been financially struggling in the last few years, we need to understand the violence that non-payment of taxes can hurt the economy over time,” he said. ..

“It’s by no means dramatic, and often a very subtle erosion of government spending capacity.”

He goes on to say: “Delinquency is evidence of an insidious and destructive culture of compliance that can show the true strength of a particular business and its unfair advantage over other businesses. Some entities are likely to gain a competitive advantage over other entities by leveraging them to expand their economic capacity and not pay fair distributions.

“Therefore, it is not enough to look at the impact of the dollar alone, but we can see the fundamental impact this can have on the proper functioning of national financial institutions and fair play in the competitive arena. In order for a country to develop, all people and all organizations must meet their tax obligations, despite the heavy burden. “

Edwards said significant levels of intentional non-compliance and evidence of underreporting should cast doubt on whether the country truly understands the adequacy of its tax system.

“The system is appropriate, but is it stressing the country because it is being played by others? In addition to this, some of us are operating the system. Are some people overburdened? “Edwards said.

“Therefore, in my view, the government needs to leverage these findings to step up its tax reform efforts in terms of achieving a higher level of compliance, but more importantly, system equity. Compliance generally works at a high level if the tax burden is properly distributed and fair.

“Collecting unpaid amounts is important and enforcement is basic, but more importantly, the message here is that all appropriate solutions to correct this important element of the country’s economic system. It’s about digging underwater to make sure it’s brought, “Edwards said.

On Wednesday, Inland Revenue Department officials lamented what was called an “unacceptable non-compliance rate” for registered taxpayers over the past few years, resulting in nearly $ 1 billion in arrears.

Shunda Strachan, Deputy Administrator of the Inland Revenue Department, said more than 70% of these arrears were due to taxes levied on non-Bahamian-owned commercial real estate and vacant lots.