There is absolutely no need for this Central Revenue Authority. The only thing that needs to happen is that Government Ministers should stop interfering with public officers when they attempt to do their duty. If you owe the Government taxes of any type and you have friends in Government, you can call a minister and enforcement of the law would not apply to you.

Rather than blame political interference for non collection of Government revenue, politicians come up with all types of reasons. The Central Revenue Authority is an attempt to fix a problem that would not exist if the politicians allow the public service to function as intended. By way of example, the VAT Division is owed millions of dollars in taxes that the Division is prevented from collecting so rather than allow the public servants collect the money, Government increased the rate of the tax.

I may be out of touch but I must ask why the stealth in introducing the Authority? Why were the public officers who would be affected not consulted?

@Franklyn : why the stealth in introducing the CRA ? try IMF.. They are here , in broad darkness. and try this :the amalgamation of the various revenue bodies will result in job redundancies.. needed but may not be popular.

@ the IMF & millertheanunnaki

From what i heard there is to be no reduction in staff at least for now. there is suppose to be additional staff to have new heads in the combined department. ie new overall head, new registras head, new it head, etc. Probably latter on they will have staff reduction but only after they win the next general election when members pension are secured.

miss sivers currently holds the post of ACCOUNTANT GENERAL of barbados. of recent times has been acting as PERMANENT SECRETARY in the ministry of finance since the reitirement of mr william ‘no-nonsense’layne of clico oversight fame.miss sivers is responsible for the implementation of the smart stream system of govt accounting which is still bedevilled for several problems after over 10 years in existence. nevertheless, she has a reputation for getting things done. i concur absolutely with mr franklyn’s comments. another damocles sword on the backs of the taxpayers in that politicians could put their hand in the all important cooki jar and bypass established procedures in place to access funds from the treasury and control spending without going to parliament.

anthony | November 7, 2011 at 11:50 PM |
“From what i heard there is to be no reduction in staff at least for now. there is suppose to be additional staff to have new heads in the combined department.”

How then can cost savings and efficiency gains be achieved in a service-oriented sector that is primarily dependent on human capital (people’s performance)? What is going to happen to those people who can’t fit into a “right” job? Will we have the same amount of typist, messengers, maids, HR officers, registry clerks, SAO’s and the list goes on?
Will these various agencies or departments continue to occupy or rent different locations / premises? Would there be any savings / reductions in overheads -electricity, telephone, office supplies, etc? What about separate IT systems and platforms?

From what Ms Sivers said one can conclude that there will be another layer of bureaucracy at the top called the “Commissioner General with its own cost structure.
This country is certainly heading in the same direction as Greece.
Please, politicians, make the necessary structural adjustments and serious reforms of the public service before they are imposed on us from outside with more bitter medicine and excruciating pain!

Can’t they think of another acronym? I have enough trouble with the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) when I come to Barbados to relax the words will be in “me head” like the “Bassman”

The Scout | November 8, 2011 at 5:08 PM |

Steady, Scout! I salute you!
Sounds more like an ex-soldier trained in guerrilla tactics than a boy scout!
By using all democratic and law abiding means at their disposal Bajans need to change this regime or suffer the long-term consequences.

You magicians on this blog why not join up with Owen Arthur and Clyde Mascoll and go to the Eurozone where headlines are becoming more graphic everyday about the economies of some countries.

I took this headline from the Daily Mail “Staring into the abyss: Italy’s economy in crisis, France under strain and fears WE could be dragged into a second recession”

You just come on here and complain about how bad the government is functioning and predicting all kinds of doom and gloom and harping back to the good days under Owen Arthur. Days where money was borrowed for a rainy day and squandered. Days where we borrowed to sustain our unsustainable way of living. Selling land to the highest bidder so as to get foreign currency inflows. Houses for the rich were the thing because of a lot of Ponzi schemes. Those days are gone and now a new government is trying but you want back the days of Ponzi schemes SCOUT.

SCOUT from your first post on this blog you were always a supporter of the BLP and therefore whatever you say should be taken with a pinch of salt. You were never a DLP member.

You even call the DLP members of Parliament parasites but would want us to vote back in the KING PARASITE of all OWEN ARTHUR. If you have evidence that the DLP members took $75000 as a campaign donation and put it in their bank account bring it up SCOUT.

millertheanunnaki
Your slip/underpants is always showing.
You are very harsh on Owen Arthur but deep down from your writings you are a supporter of the BLP and only setting up a scaffold pretending to attack Owen Arthur.

@ Clone | November 9, 2011 at 10:46 PM |
Clone of Carsoon C Cadogan leave me cornwell alone!
Yes, I would support a bunch of BLP so-called crooks than this lying, stealing incompetent indecisive lot of idiots. I would prefer to have Seethru as the man in charge of finance a 1000 times than what is currently parading as a finance buffoon.
I will leave it to Scout to put you in your sty but before I go just answer one query: What do the troubles in the Eurozone have to do with the passing of Integrity & Freedom of Information legislation. These much vaunted promises of anti-corruption laws earmarked at the BLP crooks are 3 years 10 months less 96 days overdue. What’s up? Too busy cloning the BLP crooks?

@ Let Me Tell You How Sick These Women Are | November 10, 2011 at 3:27 PM |

What happens when black men play with and eat the white pussy cat? Do they dribble like Dracula and shout Meow! Meow!
You don’t think you can have it off with a white succubus and don’t worship at the gate of Aphrodite and drink oil from the sacramental cup?

@Let me Tell You, Again, How Sick These Women Are…

Please give it a rest…

You have a “hard on” for ROK. That’s empirically clear.

But IPv4 IP addresses are four octets…

200.50.87.x and 200.50.88.x are only two of the /24’s assigned to C&W.

Please don’t claim knowledge you don’t have.

@Let me tell you, CHRISTOPHER HALSALL, how sick these women are

As a person, I am sicked by how the beliefs of many are being betray for political and economic advantage by the few.

ELECTRICITY USERS UNFAIRED

To: Chris Sinckler – Probationer Minister of FINE ANTS!

Dear Chris,
You and your governmental colleagues, including the dearly departed one, in your self-seeking, treacherous, insincere style, have repeatedly tried your best to ridicule and embarrass Mr. Owen Arthur, by for example, delivering to him so-called invitations to join you in a “wrap within the Barbados flag” so as to brainstorm and crystalize ideas for the purpose of rescuing our beloved country from the economic mess that you and your sorry neophyte bunch have brought it to!

Mr. Arthur quite wisely discerning the bare-faced deception, has refused to be used and abused. And one must view these invitations against a continuing background of vicious attacks by the DLP on everything the BLP says, both on the floor of parliament and outside of it.

The DLP continues to criticize the BLP’s record in office; their mantra has been: “You have had 15 years, you have done NOTHING OF VALUE, and we don’t want to hear anything from you.”

Yet we continue to hear these cunning, fraudulent calls to join you in “non-partisan” discussions for the good of the country, when it is clear that this is NOT what you want to do.

Well, in case you have not read the following article in the press, perhaps you might catch a glimpse of it here, or maybe your FAMOUS BARBADOS UNDERGROUND character “CORNWELL,” A.K.A. CARSON C. CADOGAN, A.K.A. REUDON EVERSLEY, might bring it to your attention …… even CLONE or SARGE or AC or BONNY PEPPA or one of them fellows.

Read it carefully Chris, and at the same time take a read also of CLYDE MASCOLL’S masterful piece on PAGE 9 of the DAILY NATION OF November 3rd, 2011, in which he tries to set your thinking right, and pleads with you not to continue to drown this country in darkness.

All the long talk about consensus non-partisan thinking for the benefit of poor suffering Barbadians. Well why not rethink this excellent idea from Mr. Arthur. True, in your loud-mouth big maguffy style, you have already rejected it, but humility is a great and admirable virtue.

Arthur Proposes Consumer Ease
**************************************
Once more, Chris “Unclear” Sinckler has shown that he is confused over a very straightforward matter. This time it is the very sensible proposal by Opposition Leader Owen Arthur that the government-owned Barbados National Oil Company (BNOC) make it possible for 85,000 households to each pay about $30 per month less in electricity bills. Such relief could come from the DLP deciding that BNOC should charge the Barbados Light and Power (BL&P) less for the fuels it sells to the electricity generating company, by passing on to the suffering public $35 million of the some $110 million in profits BNOC will be making in two years.

Arthur, a highly trained and experienced economist, pointed out that this could easily and safely be done without damaging BNOC’s viability, simply by having the company reduce its losses over a “slightly extended period of time.” This proposal makes absolute sense since it would leave more money in the pockets of the hundreds of thousands of Barbadians already traumatised by having to pay higher electricity rates even when international fuel prices have been falling. Thanks to the BLP Leader, they now know that rather than the DLP directing the company which essentially is owned by taxpayers to make life easier for the public, this uncaring administration has allowed this company to hold on to exceptional profits at their expense.

SINCKLER SAYS NO TO POOR & MIDDLE CLASS?

A company reporting $100 million in profits in two years with a MONOPOLY arrangement to an essential entity like BL&P CANNOT be tottering on bankruptcy. That is why people should not be confused by the Minister of Finance’s outburst against an “across-the-board, widespread subsidisation of fuel,” since former Prime Minister Arthur was only speaking about the high-priced fuel BNOC sells to BL&P for electricity.

UNCLEAR, INCONSISTENT POLICIES
Barbadians must ask themselves how and why Sinckler and the DLP could be so ambivalent with respect to subsidies for electricity for the general public, when in his August Budget Sinckler grudgingly announced a miserly $5 million “energy grant” to the “elderly, disabled and the unemployed indigent,” when his policies have so recklessly devastated these vulnerable groups. This understandable move for the vulnerable was not the only “subsidy” dispensed by the DLP. Electricity bill payers well recall the $20 million debt “write off” for the Turf Club; and the “special price” diesel being sold to Public Service Vehicles through the Transport Board.

DLP HAND IN GLOVE WITH IMF

The BLP always rejected the IMF’s criticism of Barbados’ subsidy of education, health, water, NHC rents and especially fuel, even though the major developed countries that dominate the IMF are known to routinely subsidize their farmers and only recently engaged in massive subsidies by bailing out financial institutions and the automobile industry. But the DLP won the government in January 2008 and by April abandoned the policy whereby government’s tax on diesel and gasoline was kept low to ease buyers at the pump. Now we better understand why Sinckler declared that he and the IMF were on the same page.

Better Will be Done!

good question they where suppose to start mid month last month. Anyone know if they actually start the pac meetings. your option would also give ease but it up to government to follow thru with such suggestions. You might be right at too hard to do since they can’t get a simple cell phone tax or the lottery tax implemented. If we where to get bnoc actually annual report published would provide an easier understanding of what has gone on. It retained earnings levels thru the years would tell us the good story.

unfortunate we have to choose between the lesser of two evil right now. easy way to make some inroad with the public . make the pac meeting public. Publish the report they get in parliament that they don’t put in public. people like to see data to support the politician rantings.