Government urged to speed up payment of tax refunds

Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss says Government needs to speed up the timeframe in which it pays tax refunds to businesses and individuals.

 

Addressing those attending yesterday’s launch of the Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited’s Micro Business Loan initiative at the L.V. Harcourt Lewis Auditorium, Inniss acknowledged that many businesses are owed sizeable Value Added Tax or Corporation Tax refunds, which is affecting the cash flow of those private sector entities. 

 

At the same time, Inniss insists that persons who owe Government also have a responsibility to pay up. 

 

“From my end in Government we have to find ways in which we can get you your refunds in a faster way, if not the cost to borrow money is going to be very high, some business may collapse quite frankly, some businesses would be stymied in their growth. Now on the other hand, as the Minister of Finance keeps pointing out if there ain’t no cash in the tilly, there is no money to pay out. So it is a cycle that we are addressing very frontally, because we need those who owe Government to also pay, and pay on time, so that Government can in turn pay those who it is indebted to,” he stated.

 

Speaking to the media after the launch, he said the time for talking about these problems has come to an end; he maintained that now is the time to find solutions. But, he said, in the face of cash flow challenges, Government is cognisant that it cannot tax their way out of the tough economic conditions it has found itself in.

 

“I don’t want businesses to feel they can’t expand because they have a cash flow issue arising from indebtedness on accounts to you from Government; I don’t want people to start feeling that they have to beat the system and whatnot,” he said.

 

With that in mind, Minister Inniss contended that it is imperative that Barbados get to the point where it has a better system of tax administration and a higher level of compliance. He made the point while indicating that these are areas that the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) is examining and working on. This, he said, includes the use of technology to facilitate transactions with the BRA. (JRT)