that Baha Mar can achieve its true purpose. The Bahamian Government is fully
committed to providing all necessary assistance and cooperation required for the
early remobilization, completion, opening
and successful operation of the project
-- which includes the establishment, out of
the Office of the Prime Minister, of a task
force to enable proper coordination between Government agencies.
Late last week, the Government was invited by the Eximbank to Beijing, with a view
to resolving pertinent issues to enable the
early remobilization and completion of the
project, including addressing the legitimate
interests of Bahamian creditors. Therefore,
Mr. Speaker, given the importance of this
matter, I sent a delegation to Beijing, led
by Sen. the Hon. Attorney General Allyson
Maynard-Gibson and Sir Baltron Bethel,
Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the
Prime Minister, with a view to accomplishing these objectives.
Mr. Speaker,
I am pleased to inform this Honourable
House that the discussions were successful and, in this regard, I wish to read and
then lay on the Table of this Honourable
House of Assembly a joint statement that
was issued by the Export-Import Bank of
China, China State Construction Engineering Corporation and the Government of
The Bahamas.
Mr. Speaker,
I am satisfied, based on the statement and
the assurances given in Beijing, that every
effort is being made to enable an earliest
possible remobilization and that adequate
funding is in place to provide for the completion of the Project and the satisfaction
of legitimate claims of Bahamian contractors and suppliers.
VIII. REVENUE MEASURES
Mr. Speaker,
In this Budget Communication, I am also
announcing a number of fiscal measures
designed to:
• Provide relief to consumers and businesses through customs duty rate reductions and provide for the further rationalization of tariff rates on similar items;
• Increase compliance and efficiency in
Custom operations and reduce the potential for fraud; and
• Enhance administration and compliance
in respect of our major taxes.
The details on these various measures are
set out in an Annex to the Budget Document.
TAX RELIEF AND
RATIONALIZATION MEASURES
Mr. Speaker,
As for the tax relief and rationalization
measures, we are proposing to:
• extend the City of Nassau Revitalization
Act for another year to June 30, 2017;
• extend the Family Island Development
Encouragement Act for another year to
June 30, 2017;
• provide Customs duty exemptions and
Real Property Tax concessions to owners
of derelict buildings in New Providence
who intend to demolish and/or renovate
these buildings for commercial, educational
or social purposes;
• allow the Real Property Tax concessions
granted to residential properties last year
to be extended to commercial properties
with the exception of properties which
are now subject to collection;
• allow for the waiver of Real Property
Tax arrears for owner-occupied properties with values less than $250,000, which
could potentially benefit over 41,000
homeowners;
• expand the tariff concessions available to
light manufacturing by allowing items not
on the approved list to be granted full duty
exemption on approval of the Minister;
• allow churches to import air conditioners duty free;
• reduce or eliminate the duty on a number of household and grocery items, including appliances and parts, prepared turkey, ham, beef and chicken meat, macaroni,
spaghetti with meat and the like, ice cream,
biscuits, waffles, cakes and pastries among
others;
• eliminate the duty on baby clothes and
reduce the duty on used clothing;
• eliminate the duty on costume jewellery,
perfumes and certain leather goods;
• reduce the duty rate on computer peripherals, routers and related items;
• replace all remaining rates of duty of 7
per cent with a 5 per cent rate;
• reduce or eliminate the duty on various
building materials such as plywood, sheet
rock, cement, roofing tiles and shingles,
electrical wiring, marble and granite and
other stones among others;
• reduce the environmental levy on used
tires to reflect the low value cost of such
imports;
• exempt from VAT ancillary fees paid
along with tuition fees; and
• we will develop a framework to allow the Minister of Finance to take steps
through the Tariff Act to protect Bahamian
agricultural and manufactured products.
Increasing Compliance and Reducing Fraud
Mr. Speaker,
We are proposing measures to enhance
compliance and reduce the potential for
fraud at Customs, which will have minimal
impact on businesses that are fully compliant. Specifically, we are proposing to:
• increase the Customs storage charges
for vehicles;
• implement a licencing regime for cargo
couriers;
• institute a fee to amend cargo manifests;
• institute a fee for the Parcel List used by
cargo ships;
[29]
2016/2017
DRAFT
ESTIMATES
OF REVENUE &
EX PENDITURE