The Revenue Enhancement Unit, which has now been operating for six weeks, will roll out programs early next year that it hopes will increase government revenue given that the value-added tax (VAT) rate drops from 12 to ten percent on January 1, Financial Secretary Simon Wilson said yesterday.
Wilson, who made the remarks during an appearance on Morning Blend Business on Guardian Radio 96.9 FM, explained that the revenue enhancement measures will be designed to ensure that revenue collection by the government remains at positive levels as VAT is reduced.
“We will do some other things in terms of revenue to increase the yield and that involves stronger revenue administration,” said Wilson.
“The impact of that unit will be fully felt early in the new year. In terms of compliance we have some compliance programs we plan on launching in the new year, in terms of certain industries that have traditionally had low levels of compliance in terms of VAT and business license. So we have some programs there. Overall, we think yield is going to improve. If we do nothing, we’ll be neutral in terms of revenue yield.”
According to Wilson, by the time the government is ready to present the next annual budget, or even by the mid-year budget presentation, the government will know how well the VAT decrease and revenue enhancement programs are operating. This data, he said, will inform the government on the way forward for the VAT rate.
“We’ll have five months of data on the performance of this rate reduction and that will give a signal whether this is something the government would consider to be permanent, or whether they would make a further adjustment,” Wilson said.
He contended that the change in the VAT rate from 12 to 10 percent will reduce Bahamians’ tax burden across the board.
The post Revenue Enhancement Unit to roll out collection programs early in 2022 appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/revenue-enhancement-unit-to-roll-out-collection-programs-early-in-2022/
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