2019/20 Budget Communication Final Budget Communication | Page 39

and a payment deadline of March 31 for renewals and new applications, there will now be four
periods in the calendar year, when businesses can now select a time designation as their payment
date so as to better correspond to their respective fiscal years. They can choose either March 31,
June 30, September 30, or December 31.
This revision is something that the business community has been requesting for some
time, given that their fiscal years do not always coincide with the calendar year. The amended
legislation also makes provision for a transitional phase to allow for the necessary adjustments to
be made by the business community.
The Bahamas has several structural impediments that make it difficult for us to
compete globally in the export of goods: We all know the barriers caused by the high cost of
electricity and labour, as examples. We have several competitive niche areas as a country and we
are capitalizing on those, but there is another export market that is under explored, where we can
more effectively compete on an even footing. That is the export of services: accounting services,
legal services, information technology services, management consulting services, and of course,
financial services, just to name a few.
Consistent with the recent legislative change to equalize the playing field for
Bahamians in removing preferential exemptions for non-residents, we are implementing a broader
policy of incentivizing the export of services across the board for all Bahamians. Revenue derived
from these services will not be taxed for Business Licence purposes or VAT, which makes it easier
for Bahamians to compete on a global scale.
In this digital economy, export services are growing rapidly and we do not want
Bahamians to be constrained within our territorial borders. In fact, we want to incentivize them to
build clientele on the international market, taking advantage of all the business opportunities that
can be delivered through a mobile device or on a computer. As Bahamians increase their skill sets
and expand their reach, there will be increasing opportunities to participate in the export economy.
For the past 50 years we have approached regulation from the standpoint of whether
an individual or entity was resident or non-resident. This legal framework of privileges and benefits
to non-residents we inherited served its purpose to encourage the inflow of foreign exchange.
However, today, it doesn’t work.
38