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OECD continues to flex on SIDs

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Ryan Straughn
Ryan Straughn, Minister in the Ministry of Finance
Minister of Finance
The Honourable Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Minister of Finance

Prime Minister Mia Mottley delivered a ministerial statement last Tuesday to amend the local tax structure in the context of constant changes from the international environment to avoid resultant pressures. The nature of the local economy means government has to be compliant with tax and related legislation to avoid being blacklisted by the capitalist north.

The following is a query received from BU family member John A about the new tax system to take effect from January 2024.

With Section 2 4 and 5 payment of corporation tax monthly should prove a challenge. Some companies may make money for 4 months of the year then lose for 8 months in the tourism sector for example. That’s why corporation tax is based on 12 months of business.

Many retail businesses see December recording the highest sales and revenue of the year. It is also the last month of the year. If for example 50% of profit generated comes from December sales, where is cash flow going to come from to pay 1/12th of this in each month for the Q1 of the same year with cash flow already stretched covering normal operational expenses in your lowest revenue period?

How is Section 2 of the change going to work?

Here is EY’s communication of the change:

Barbados-Announces-Pillar-Two-ProposalsDownload

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124 responses to “OECD continues to flex on SIDs”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Today’s Nation editorial.

    Far-reaching consequences of tax

    The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) never seems to sleep when it comes to attempting to destroy the economic potential of small states through the development of the offshore and international business sectors.

    The latest salvo came Tuesday when Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley delivered a Ministerial Statement in the House of Assembly announcing a change in the tax structure. It was in response to the OECD reform of international taxation with a minimum global tax of 15 per cent, applicable on the portions of profit from January 2024.

    It is yet another indication that small states are always at the mercy of international agencies which have inordinate influence on the financial and economic direction they could take.

    Since the 1970s, Barbados has made great strides to develop its offshore sector, from which it derives significant foreign exchange.

    For many years now, the OECD has been a thorn in the side of small states like Barbados in constantly moving the goalpost, thereby making it difficult to achieve stability in this sector.

    It will be recalled that almost five years ago, changes were made to the previous tax structure and Mottley announced a convergence of the local and global tax rates in Barbados, with the rate for local firms being lowered from 25 per cent to a range of between one and 5.5 per cent, in line with the rates for global businesses.

    This move was geared towards stimulating growth in the economy and jump-starting business activity following what was called the “lost decade”. Given the state of the local economy then, it was a necessary strategic move by Government.

    It was also in part to comply with dictates of the OECD in terms of discriminatory tax practices in offshore jurisdictions. It is sad to say, but the machinations of the OECD suggest a loss of fiscal sovereignty by our Government.

    Barbados is saddled with this imposition now that the economy is showing signs of growth. Mottley noted that under the two-pillar tax reform, the OECD has proposed the Globe Anti-Base Erosion rules, which provide for a top-up tax on profits arising in a jurisdiction whenever the effective tax rate in the jurisdiction, effective January 2024, is below the 15 per cent minimum rate.

    Barbados’ fiscal hands are now tied. In 2021, some 135 countries and territories agreed to this initiative, although implementation of a global tax is facing political resistance in the United States.

    Countries are not required to start taxing corporations, but should they fail to do so, another jurisdiction is eligible to collect the difference as a top-up tax.

    How this is going to be monitored is not clear, but it will likely be a costly hurdle. Government is conscious that some international companies will leave the jurisdiction as its major attraction as a low-tax jurisdiction is now lost.

    Mottley said there shall be a new corporation tax rate of nine per cent, but a company whose gross income is currently below $2 million, and which is now registered as a small business under the Small Business Development Act, Chapter 318C, shall be subject to a corporation tax rate of 5.5 per cent.

    Though the proposed tax is much lower than in 2018, there could have been much more public engagement among social partners and stakeholders, given that Barbados is so dependent on the international business sector.

    These new tax proposals have farreaching consequences for Barbados and the international financial sector, so much so that other offshore jurisdictions are looking at an effective date for the new legislation of January 1, 2025. Time is needed to digest the economic impact.

    We assume a proper assessment of the implications of this new tax regime was done, but the fear of being blacklisted has seemingly paralysed Government to the extent that there was no discussion in Parliament.

    Though the shipping and insurance businesses have been spared for now, Barbados has to wait to see whether there is an exodus of international businesses, with drastic economic consequences.

    Source: Nation

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Economist Marla Dukharan has been always vocal on the unfair OECD practices directed at small states, especially Black states.

    Rules change again in the middle of the game

    Article by Barbados Today
    Published on
    November 9, 2023

    https://barbadostoday.bb/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Marla-Dukharan-760×475.jpg

    There are going to be times when you have to speak your truth without ambiguity to let the world know exactly where you stand.

    That position has been taken by Barbados-based Caribbean economist Marla Dukharan who has been fearlessly calling out the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for their ongoing and consistent attempts to dismantle the international financial centres in the Caribbean and other developing countries.

    Industrialised countries have been so successful at labelling Caribbean nations as centres of money laundering that it has been taken as truth, even though the evidence clearly points to the cosmopolitan centres of the EU and North America as the proven domiciles of fraud and the laundering of criminal proceeds.

    Dukharan accused the EU Council of weaponising its rules on tax avoidance and money laundering. She argued that the overarching motive was driven by a desire to “defend its own high-tax, high-public-spending form of government from competition from countries that opt for less of each”.

    The noted economist also supported her stand by citing the glaring omissions from the EU blacklist of countries such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Russia. These are all countries with proven challenges with money laundering. As a result, there was a credible argument that the EU was basically flexing its political and economic muscle to rein in less influential countries that were simply seeking to be competitive in the area of taxes and financial services.

    One writer for the online publication Global Americans articulated a forthright position in the December 2020 edition following the blacklisting of Barbados and a number of other Caribbean countries: “In the Caribbean, the EU’s hardline approach was seen as unwarranted and hypocritical considering the track records of a number of European countries – including Cyprus, Estonia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the EU blacklist was viewed as more rigorous than the standards upheld by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – an intergovernmental organisation established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 countries to develop policies to combat money laundering [and terrorist financing].”

    The Mia Mottley administration was expectedly angered by the decision of the EU. It came a mere two years after the island made a substantial alteration to its tax rates in response to the contention that its two-tiered tax system gave an unfair advantage to international business companies.

    After converging the tax rates for all companies at a maximum of 5.5 percent in response to the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Initiative, the Group of Seven (G7) nations are again on the attack, seeking a global minimum tax rate, which will effectively further undermine the competitiveness of financial centres like ours in Barbados and the region.

    This week Prime Minister Mottley was again forced to contort the island’s tax system in order to protect the tax revenue base by raising the tax rate to nine percent to ensure compliance with another global financial rule.

    The administration has conceded that some international companies may leave Barbados as a result of the higher tax rate as the cost-benefit is likely to be significantly eroded.

    This is an outcome that has been by design – make it harder for banks and other companies to establish outside the borders of industrialised nations.

    It has therefore reinforced the efforts of Barbados to have a seat at the table where these rules are being crafted so that our input is recognised.

    As Professor Don Marshall, director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies asserted this week: “This routine habit of exclusion has to be called out and has to end if we are going to have truly global financial governance of flows of money.”

    Source: Barbados Today

  3. Bush tea Avatar
    Bush tea

    What “rules have been changed in the middle of the game” What!!??…
    Rot!!

    The ‘Rules’ are, and have been crystal clear from the very start of the game.
    What are being changed – practically on a DAILY basis, are the TACTICS being used by the ‘rule makers’.

    The ‘RULES’ of the albino-centric game are represented by the ‘Golden Rule’-
    “He who has the gold – rules, …and he does so in such a way as to acquire as much of the total gold as is humanly, (and even demonically) possible.

    To the extent that we REFUSE to see this global REALITY, and we
    -continue to run after their BAIT,
    -to in-debt ourselves to them,
    -follow THEIR rules,
    -kow-tow to their guidelines
    -and wallow in their false praise…
    … we can only be described as brass bowls, who are resigned to being used as receptacles of albino-centric shiite…

    OUR OWN golden rule is well documented…
    “Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”, and it sets us APART by our INSTINCTIVE behaviors. This inherent trait make us into complete BRASS BOWLS when we CHOOSE to adopt the albino-centric, shiite, foreign ‘rules’….
    and ALL the results show we ALWAYS end up being brass bowl victims…

    YET we persist to dig ourselves deeper and deeper into the mire of materialism, greed, hate and envy – where we are such POOR performers.
    …RATHER than leverage OUR OWN ‘gold’…where we are unbeatable.

    What a place!
    What a curse!
    It is sack cloth and ashes….. or BUST!

  4. Terence M Blackett Avatar
    Terence M Blackett

    @David

    This piece should concern every person in BIM* as 2023 ends & #24Dawns!!!

    As I am sure you are aware, there is a “BACKLASH” here in Britain regarding “OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS” & folks like the “ARCHIE COMIC BOOK PRIME MINISTER” we have & his wife & family who are “BILLIONAIRES” and the “ISSUES” over their “NONDOM_STATUS” for Tax Purposes…

    More & more, in a time such as this with a “COST OF LIVING CRISIS” socio-engineered by the “ELITES” as “PAYBACK” for the £400 Billion given during the #PlanDEMIC to the British public as soft loans & handouts that has also resulted as you flip the coin that more “BILLIONAIRES” & “MULTIMILLIONAIRES” were created during the last 3 years than at any other time in human history…

    The “CRY” of “UNFAIR” is also being heard & echoed across “EUROPE” et al as the working class, servile plebs cannot heat their house properly this winter (with increased mortgage rates, spiralling food & living costs) with the added albatross around their necks of having to live on rations while the “FILTHY RICH” (operate word – “filth”) and the “INFAMOUS” laugh all the way to their secret offshore havens (where their wealth is hidden under complex financial structures & instruments) away from prying eyes!!!

    Institutions like the “TAX JUSTIC NETWORK” ET AL cite the following for starters:

    “As power and wealth concentrations have become ever more top-heavy, social cohesion and democracy have become pushovers. Illiberal and anti-democratic actors, domestic and foreign, are on the offensive, corrupting our institutions, our media and our political processes. Inequality on its own is toxic enough: historically it has overturned empires, dictatorships, theocracies and democracies, and at times led to war. As inequality spreads, the likelihood of bloodshed rises..”

    “But the issues and mechanisms that the tax justice movement focuses on – tax havens, shell companies, offshore trusts, corporate tax cheat structures – are especially corrosive. The threats to our collective security lie on many levels, each more insidious and pernicious than the others…”

    SEE: https://taxjustice.net/2020/10/23/tax-havens-harm-our-well-being-and-security/

    Al Jazeera News cite: “The United Kingdom’s exotic network of “Treasure Island” tax havens could be facing the biggest threat to its existence in half a century after the United States and its allies pledged to squeeze more tax out of large, profitable multinational companies…” (MEANING IN SIMPLE SPEAK – BARBADOS ET AL MUST FORCE COMPLIANCE IF NECESSARY)!!!

    “The often distant islands of Britain’s former empire have served as the premier jurisdiction for everyone from cash-rich Chinese officials to Russian oligarchs to Western firms to hedge funds seeking lower taxes – or complete secrecy…”

    SEE: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/6/7/why-uks-network-of-treasure-island-tax-havens-is-in-trouble

    The OECD’s push at “ENDING PROFIT SHIFTING” is a veneered attempt at curtailing “TAX AVOIDANCE” but we all know the real deal here!!!

    SEE: https://www.oecd.org/about/impact/ending-offshore-profit-shifting.htm

    POST COVID MEANS THE WORLD IS A DIFFERENT PLACE – hence the reason, everything appears to be “GOING TO HELL IN A PANCART” as I cited earlier this week, and the OECD* is trying to give voice to GEN Y & Zers as this DOCX shows:

    https://www.oecd.org/about/civil-society/youth/Shaping-the-Covid-19-Recovery-Ideas-from-OECD-s-Generation-Y-and-Z.pdf

    In my mind, when institutions parlay “FAIRNESS” as a “GET OUT OF JAIL CARD” – as usual, only one group of people benefit and we know who they are and it is not the average citizen!!!

  5. Terence M Blackett Avatar
    Terence M Blackett

  6. Terence M Blackett Avatar
    Terence M Blackett

    THE ANTHEM OF THE GLOBALISTS – “BUILD BACK BETTER” – POST-COVID!!! But what in God’s Name is BBB? Maybe @Bush Tea et al can shine some light on this issue…

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @TB

    Unfortunately this is the way of the world. The third world or developing countries will always be viewed as economic pariahs. We are a market whose consumers are made addicted to products and services delivered by the north.

    Our people love it notwithstanding our education which incidentally is facilitated by the north. It is a cycle of indoctrination isn’t it.

  8. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    We may quibble about how the corp tax should be prorated to account for seasonality but the core of the problem remains doesn’t it.

  9. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David

    Let’s be honest here and admit the PM has little to no wriggle room on this issue. The offshore sector we enjoyed for decades is an economic dinosaur. Problem is what will we replace it with revenue wise that is not tourism based?

    This week they are going behind Google in Ireland for a wash of money in taxes. This is their second attempt to get taxes from them there.

    I feel the increase to 9% is also the first step and this will again increase over the next few years. What I find laughable though is England complains about Ireland, but they are doing the dog in Cayman with the same offshore companies.

  10. become economically inactive Avatar
    become economically inactive

    The best way to reduce income tax is to reduce income, by becoming economically inactive.

    A person who is neither employed nor unemployed is economically inactive.

  11. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    A scan of the domestic market gives no optimism we have alternatives. Where are the green shoots?

  12. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David

    The problem is that most see the offshore sector as not affecting them so why worry if it goes. These companies rent houses, buy cars employ people and services, eat at restaurants, shop at supermarkets and the list goes on and on.

    Think of all those houses Bajans bought as investment properties to rent to this sector, what happens to them when they pull out? No Bajan can pay $7000 in rent a month for them so what is their owner’s plan B?

  13. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    I will when we stop playing silly games.

  14. John A Avatar
    John A

    The other issue we have to consider is WHEN NOT IF, the standard global tax of 15% is introduced why would a company come to a country that is way more expensive to do business in than their home country? Not to mention the fact we have the glorious reputation of being one of the most difficult places in the world to do business in The Ease Of Doing Business Report. They will tolerate our tardiness when they are paying a 1% tax rate, but if they are paying the same as home why would they.

  15. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    You read this part of the Nation Wednesday report?

    The GloBE Rules are, therefore, designed to ensure that large multinational enterprises pay a minimum effective tax rate of 15 per cent on the income arising in each jurisdiction in which they operate, through the application of a system of top-up taxes in other jurisdictions (an Income Inclusion Rule and/or an UnderTaxed Payment Rule and/or a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax),” Mottley explained.

    “Where, for example, profits earned by a group subsidiary located in Barbados are taxed at an effective rate of only five per cent, then the new rules will come into play from 2024.”

    She added: “Therefore, with the global minimum tax rate of 15 per cent, the jurisdiction where the parent company is based will have the right to charge an additional ten per cent in taxes on the subsidiary’s profits. This will ensure that even those profits located in Barbados are ultimately subject to an effective tax rate of 15 per cent.

    “Any top-up tax to be paid in the other jurisdiction might be reduced or eliminated by any qualifying domestic minimum tax which allows Barbados to collect the tax.”

    In line with Barbados’ commitment to these GloBE Rules, the Prime Minister, therefore, announced that from January 1 “there shall be a corporation tax rate of nine per cent subject to the following regimes”.

  16. David Avatar
    David


    Law coming to standardise property values for insurance, land tax, sale

    Article by Marlon Madden
    Published on
    November 10, 2023

    A more standardised process for valuing properties in Barbados is on the horizon, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn announced on Thursday.

    He said new legislation will be taken to Parliament as the government seeks to bring the valuation of property for insurance, land tax payments and property sale in line with each other.

    Addressing the opening ceremony of the two-day Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and International Property Tax Institute’s 10th Caribbean Valuation and Construction Conference, at Hilton Barbados Resort, the minister said one of the areas of great concern relating to the real estate market was the disparity in valuation of properties for different purposes.

    “The value that one puts on your property for insurance purposes versus the value that they put on your property for tax purposes versus the value you want to put on your home when you want to sell it [involve] three different competing objectives. So, you have persons who will object every year to the Revenue Commissioner about the value of their property, but when it comes time to have negotiations about selling that property, all of a sudden the valuation is much higher than what the Revenue Authority has.

    “For insurance purposes, as you can appreciate – because we want to ensure that we build resilience – we find ourselves in a situation where persons are underinsured because the valuation they are using with respect to payment of your premium is in conflict,” Straughn pointed out.

    It was against that background that he said the government would be introducing new valuation legislation.

    “Working with the stakeholders, which we will be doing very shortly, [we will] bring a new valuation bill to Parliament that will help to resolve some of these issues,” he said, though not giving a timeline.

    He said getting the right regulations and mix of policies and mechanisms in place was critical, adding that these should give a clear indication of the investment type required, what government incentives would be made available, and how residents and industry stakeholders could collaborate.

    The minister also pointed to the need for accurate data on the real estate market to encourage greater investment, saying: “The essence of valuation is going to have to be at the centre, in terms of clean data, to allow us to be able to make good policy decisions in order to ensure that we can unlock true investment at all levels with respect to the real estate market.”

    He said creating the right policies will help to “mobilise” some of the billions of dollars in savings into investment in real estate.

    “Real estate is one such area that we know that we have not yet given the right structures and opportunities for additional investment in order for ordinary people to mobilise those said resources to be able to benefit from it,” he said.

    Straughn said the government was also considering the development of a house price index to better document the sale of property across the country.

    Pointing out that the contribution of the industry to the economy was significant, he said he was also concerned that it was still taking too long to complete property transactions.

    Straughn gave the assurance, however, that the government will be pressing ahead with the digitisation of the land registry, adding that he believed it should help to significantly reduce the time it takes for the exchange of information and to close a transaction to between seven and 14 days.

    “It will require a significant amount of change management and investment in digitisation to ensure that all of the necessary data related to titles is clean. That is something the government is working on right now,” he said.

    At least one banker and a developer agreed that the valuation of properties for various reasons could be closer.
    Manager of Corporate Credit with Republic Bank Corey Knight said it can sometimes be confusing for lending institutions when valuations are vastly different.

    James Edghill, developer and co-founder of construction development firm One Builders, said he welcomed the idea of a house price index.

    “The house price index and sharing of information would be a good start. Real estate agents and valuators here aren’t known for cooperating with each other because they are competitors. So, you take any one firm and the information they have is going to be limited, whereas if you pool all of the information, you are going to get a much more full picture.

    “The reality is that we are a very illiquid market by any means. So you are going to get wide disparities in the values until there is some more harmonisation of sharing of data,” Edghill told the local, regional and international real estate and construction operators, bankers and global business officials attending the conference which has as its theme, Advancements in Real Estate – Recent Trends Impacting Valuation and Construction.

  17. David Avatar
    David

    https://barbadosunderground.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/greed-658×1024.png

  18. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David

    Listen that article by Minister Straughn needs to be looked at seriously by every home owner in this island!

    So wunna want 1 price for everything then? The insurance and land tax and bank valuation wunna want the same then? Well answer the below for me.

    If I built a house for $500,000 in 2001 and decided to self insure which is my right, what price wunna using there?

    If I built the same house above and have no plans to sell it, but pass it to my son what price you using as your sales price?

    Finally what price you using for land tax now let me hear? If the house worth $700k IF I WAS SELLING IT WHICH I AM NOT, wunna going tax me on something that will never occur too then?

    So the plan is to now make me insure my house for $750k because that is what you feel it worth, then tax me on $750K because somebody feel that is what I MIGHT get for it if I sold it? Very good what’s next you going start charging duty on cars based on their selling price and not their imported value?

    Listen in case wunna forget you charge transfer tax on the selling price ALONG with land taxes every year so you already collecting tax on the sale price along with vat on the transaction and stamp duty. What happen wunna forget that too?

    Look let’s be honest this is just another money grab based on taxing a sales price that has not even occured yet, on top of all the other taxes you collect when the sale does actually occur.

    Imagine trying to pass a wolf off as a sheep because both got 4 legs. Lol

  19. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    A good guess is the the methodology will be standardized to determine replacement cost/fair market value. What you plan to do with property is therefore irrelevant.

  20. John A Avatar
    John A

    So we will tax people on what we feel they would get if it sold as opposed to taxing them on the cost of their owning it?

    If I have the proof of what I paid for the land and the cost of building the house, that then is my taxable base. You can’t tax me on what you feel it will sell for sorry. When it does sell you can tax me on the sale then as is done now.

  21. John A Avatar
    John A

    Also what happens to the old bajan family that may live on a beach or on a parcel of land with a nice view of the island? Do we hit them now at what the upmarket development to the right sold for?

    You know what we need to do instead of grabbing more, we need to fix the hemorrhaging that is occurring in our tax collection. Let us try not to find ourselves in 5 years having to forgive another 500 million in uncollected vat in other words. We are already the heaviest taxed in the region why wunna dont improve you tax collection systems and rope in all that making real money and not paying a blind cent first?

    You don’t want to fix the holes in the bucket but instead you want to pelt more water in it as a solution.

  22. Hopi Avatar
    Hopi

    OECD- Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development (of which Barbados is not even a member). Is this group really about Development and Co-Operation or is it more of an International Tax Collection Agency?

    Why can’t Barbados have a bi-lateral agreement with any Business Entity which decides to set up shop on the island where both entities would operate on a ‘Chinese win-win’ basis. Barbados…..here are our laws/ rules/statues/requirement and Business Entity present their side. Both parties sign off and get busy. Why involve greedy blood-sucking OECD? Why take monies away from ‘Developing Nations’ to fatten the deep pockets of ‘developed nations?’

    What if a Russian Entity sets up Operation in Barbados, do OECD’s laws apply?

    Why are the Shipping and Insurance Business untouched? Who owns such businesses?
    ———————————————————

    MONTHLY PRE-PAYMENT TAX

    Monthly pre-payments for the’current’ FY will be based on the previous year’s tax base x the new applicable rate, (net the relevant tax credits). So if I made 3x more last year (month..not clear) than what I made in the present month of FY24, I will be taxed on that? Who agreed to that ass-backward shyte?
    ———————————————————-

    Now here comes Zacheus talking in circles about the ‘circumnavigation’ of land taxes. I can see that there are going to be real problems with this one. Bet you he consults with some blood-sucking entities on how to best bleed the land and property owners in Barbados. Just wait for it. Come to shyte down Zacheus!

    I personally have a problem with paying taxes of any sort but Land Tax is definitely criminal and anti-GOD. We came and found Mother Earth. No one built,created,neither innovated EARTH but we are required to pay to live on Earth? The madness of the hour!

    NO TO ALL TAXES!

  23. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    David, I understand the reasons given for the changes. My interpretation thereof is that people are undervaluing their properties for the purpose of paying less home insurance; challenging the BRA’s valuation for property taxes; and would want the highest valuation of the property if they want to sell. So, they’re essentially using three different valuations for the same property. Aligning the valuations, in my opinion, is perhaps the best option. Property owners could have a certified valuation of their properties.

  24. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    David, since vehicles were mentioned, you cannot purchase a vehicle (legitimately) or insure it without a valuation certificate from a reptuable individaul or garage that is certified and authorised to issue such certificates. Insurance companies usually include a list of garages, with insurance renewal notices.

  25. Reality will not let up on you. Tell yourself stories if that make you feel better Avatar
    Reality will not let up on you. Tell yourself stories if that make you feel better

    There is a difference between playing inside of Carnegie Music Hall and playing on the street outside CMH. It is with amazement that I watch our pied piper play on the world stage and her fans following blindly behind her and echoing nonsense. Do those fans not realize the difference between a charade and a show, the difference between the main act and the opening act, the difference between an orchestra and a wandering ministrel?

    The big countries have her running all over the place and using her as a symbolic voice for the weak; then they ignore her weak squeak, close the doors and impose all types of regulations and restrictions on us.

    I am somewhat amused that a high-ranking banker, who most likely ignored plebes who came into the bank begging for a loan does not realize the difference between a mendicant/borrowing nation and a lending nation. My dear, be it men or nations the models and the relationships are similar. Why does she find it so difficult to accept our role nations?

    To repeat a quote that I saw here earlier ‘those that have the gold makes the rules’. It makes no sense whining.

    @Hopi
    I saw three ads for workers because Bajans were not qualified. I made a comment and one of the “Bajans” in the group attempted to jump on me (poor fellow). But that is why I have little hope of us solving our problems. I believe we have the brains to do so, but we lack the will and honesty. We need to face reality.

    You can post an item about a thieving lawyer and not a soul made a comment. You can see these ads for ‘qualified foreigners’ being posted, but no one wonders who is the official approving these requests and why is he doing so. No one wants to call out (possible) corruption.

    Why? Because it may be a friend or a relative who is in the position. Hypocrisy and lying to ourselves are the main reason we cannot escape the death spiral. I had a roommate who greeted each day with the prayer “Reality is a bitch”. It is time you all start facing and dealing with the bitch.

  26. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Hopi

    My question to Mr Straughn is this. Is our cashflow as a country so bad that you now need to try and collect corporation tax monthly?

    Profit is not a linear item. One has peak months of profit and other months where most lose money. How then can you expect to look at a companies profit based on a year and divide it by 12, then expect people to find the money to pay it monthly?

    Secondly you do realise that the corporation tax being charged will be nearly double going forward? Not because you are making more money, but because the tax rate is moving from 5% to 9%.

    There is a reason why audited finacials globally are based on a financial year consisting of 12 months. That way it takes into account all fluctuations in profit and expenses over a year. But we is Bim and brek as tail, so we going be different and reinvent the wheel. Stupes

  27. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    Agree in the main with your comment. The government needs to remove the subjectivity from land value. For too many years the value of property has been manipulated.

  28. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    Previous comment applies. For too long there has been a racket surrounding buy and sell of vehicles.

  29. Hopi Avatar
    Hopi

    Earlier I posted a piece on the “SUPERFICIAL BAJAN” thread which I think is quite applicable to your interaction with a certain Bajan mindset. Bajans will always welcome the import over their own. Its a psychological illness akin to witchcraft.

    In spite of the fact that ‘our’ dearly beloved PM (elected and then re-elected) was served beatdowns on a daily, I was still willing to give her a pass. Today, I might just be joining the choir,though off-key.

    Its quite evident that she’s enamoured with the World Stage more so than her home stage, forgetting that its her own who propelled her to that bigger platform.

    With her constant harping about climate change, she’s definitely pushing the globalist agenda. She’s a WEF girl. You cannot serve two masters simultaneously. Soon she’ll be remiss in one of those houses.

    If my vision is not obscured, I’d swear I’ve seen her wearing a Kabalah bracelet, just like the hollywood clique. For me that’s a red flag.

    I know for sure that just like ‘they’ve’ created this unsustainable reality for us, we can change this narrative and create a different reality for ourselves.

  30. Hopi Avatar
    Hopi

    You’ve stolen my thunder. Your 1st para was my intended preamble, somehow it slipped by….The monthly collection of taxes as opposed to quarterly collection. Who’s hard up for revenue like that? Is the OECD directing him to collect at such time or is this the crackhead in him?

    I do understand the cycles of business and the effect on revenue earning. Having run a small business myself taxes were always paid in quarterly.

    I think the Corp tax is being doubled because the EU has been deprived of easy access to stolen resources from Africa. Take into consideration the fact that the Sahel Region has kicked France off the dole. Now that’s Billions that are not entering the French coffers. Not just natural resources but that entire region will be printing their own currencies and not using the FRANC.

    Germany’s Olaf Scholz just visited Nigeria and Ghana, looking for energy assistance and Germany once the manufacturing giant of Europe no longer occupies such a position. So Germany is hurting.

    Europe is in big trouble! Hence the need to grab tax revenue before you can even count it.

    Now we see why some businesses get creative with their accounting to the point where some even keep two books. LOL!

  31. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    I read that, effective January 1, 2024, in-scope GloBE companies will be required to pay corporation tax on a monthly basis. Based on the comments so far, I believe ‘we jumped the gun to assume the worst,’ before availing ourselves with certain information. What are the GloBE rules and what companies fall within them? For example, a ‘MNE group’ falls within the scope of the GloBE rules and refers to a company that operates in a particular country to benefit from tax law, but is subject to taxation through a permanately established company in another jurisdiction. Reminds me of the USA’s FATCA. I suggest we read the GloBE rules to determine whether or not they are applicable to locally and regionally owned companies. Or if all companies will be required to make CorpTax prepayments.

  32. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Is this not colonialism?

    And the firm commitment to it by this degenerative regime.

    Even in a so-called independence month

    Colonialism still?

    What of the constant refrain of he who is in charge here about freedom, democracy, Western values

    Maybe the real freedoms lie in bulling, acceptance of the religion of economy which serves the White world.

    Indeed Mottley, as the local head slave of empire, factotum, after more than a generation of begging the OECD for the pig belly, the pig tail, the pig head, to make an economic black pudding and souse, continues to display a zealous religious commitment to these devils.

    Maybe she tooooo is laboring in a vineyard under the illusion that the ‘heaven’ of the top UN job will deliver milk and honey from the teet of the imperial bitch.

  33. tax claims can be made for over payments Avatar
    tax claims can be made for over payments

    Not sure about 1-246 but Corporation Accounts are submitted 10 months after end of tax year in +44, so tax claims can be made for over payments

    I mentioned that people in 1-246 should reduce income to 0 and spend time on the beach and golf course in early retirement and two petty minded posters peeping through door cracks gave me a star

    in other words Barbados will become a glorified retirement home

  34. The People’s Democratic Congress (PDC) Avatar
    The People’s Democratic Congress (PDC)

    The People’s Democratic Congress (PDC) are quite revolutionary in the income tax model gate pressure runnings
    https://barbadosunderground.net/tag/pdc/

  35. Hopi Avatar
    Hopi

    @ Artax

    Do you know when these new rules were written? Were they written before/after the first 1/4 of FY 22? I’ve been searching but didn’t find a time line.

  36. John A Avatar
    John A

    Yes you can claim on overpayments and like personal income tax credits you wait forever to see the cheque.

  37. Hopi Avatar
    Hopi

    @ Tax claims …LOL!

    Isn’t the aim to make Barbados the Monaco of the Region?

  38. Hopi Avatar
    Hopi

    Pray tell. Since Barbados is NOT an OECD member why must the nation adhere to their rules/regulations?

  39. Mystic I Avatar
    Mystic I

    Forward With the Orthodox

    Come let’s stone the Devil
    Chase him with a pebble

    Vote PDC to forward with jah orthodox and get rid of the income tax https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nepOBINZ4hU

  40. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Hopi, the OECD/G20 introduced a 15 point Action Plan in 2013, to address Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS). This is simply a set of internationally recognised taxation rules. The international tax system was updated in October 2021 to include the Global Anti Base Erosion (GloBE) rules, which were established to address challenges in the tax system arising from digitisation of the economy. The rules simply ‘provides for a co-ordinated system of taxation.’ If, for example, the internationally established minimum tax rate is 10% and a country’s effective tax rate on profits realised by multinational corporations is 7%, the rules require that country to increase its rate by 3%, thereby ensuring those businesses pay the minimum level of tax on profits.

  41. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Hopi, Barbados and several other countries worldwide that signed the FATCA are NOT American states.

  42. David Avatar
    David

    All values are not the same, for good reason

    Today’s Editorial
    The recent comments of Mr Ryan Straughn, Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and Investment, about a plan to overhaul how properties on the island are valued, increasing the speed and efficiency with which that function is undertaken by the state, are instructive.
    The minister drew our attention to the fact that amendments were coming in the form of a new Valuation Bill which is expected to be headed to Parliament very soon.
    Speaking to an audience attending the Caribbean Valuation and Construction Conference being held here, the minister outlined his thoughts.
    “One of the main areas of concern that we definitely have, relates to the valuation exercise because the value that one puts on your property for insurance purposes versus the value that you put on your property for tax purposes, versus value that you would put on your home when you want to sell it, [are] three different competing objectives.
    “So, we will have persons who will object every year to the Revenue Commissioner on the value of their homes, but when it comes time to sell that property, all of a sudden, the valuation is much higher than what the [Barbados] Revenue Authority has.
    “For insurance purposes, as you would appreciate, we want to make sure that we build resilience. We find a situation where persons are under-insured because obviously the valuation that we’re using with respect to the insurance premium obviously is in conflict.”
    We are unsure whether the government is seeking to draw an equation between the three values, but for the average homeowner, we know that insurance companies insist that insurance values on homes represent the cost of rebuilding that same property were it to be destroyed by fire, flood or some other calamity.
    When it comes to the resale of properties in Barbados, we also know that there are many variables that impact the sale price of any property. And who would not want to get the maximum for a property that the owner puts on the market? A beautiful house located next to a roadside mechanic will likely not attract the same sale price as one of equal value, located next to a florist.
    When the Barbados Revenue Authority issues those annual tax demand notices, Barbadians may grumble because it is money that has to be paid to the tax collector rather than the purchase of groceries that are constantly on the rise in supermarkets.
    The long lines of people seeking to pay land taxes to the government by year-end to take advantage of discounts represent the important value that Barbadians place on owning a piece of the rock. For the majority of Barbadians, it is not just an asset on the accounting ledger, but part of their patrimony and a legacy for the next generation.
    Barbados is not getting larger, and Barbadians are observing the large tracts of land that are falling into the hands of people who have no appreciation for our history of exclusion and other negatives of the system of plantocracy.
    What most Barbadians want from our government is greater efforts at ensuring that generations to come will not be deprived of the opportunity to become landowners in the country of their birth.
    We know that successive administrations have viewed our land as a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder, to secure its highest economic value. Often, this occurs without greater consideration of the social impacts.
    What Barbadians do not want is to have land taxes become so high that it too is added to the list of barriers for average citizens to own a piece of the rock.

    Source: BT

  43. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Over the years, countries have signed various treaties etc, requiring them to adhere to various internationally accepted rules. Whenever the generally accepted accounting, auditing or taxation principles are updated, Barbados and other countries have to update their accounting systems accordingly as well. The information is available to the public. Rather than avail ourselves with as much information as possible about these issues, we allow our ill-informed discussion to be influenced by emotion and snippets from the media…… and confined to ‘begging and borrowing’ as being responsible for everything.

  44. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Begging, borrowing, incompetence and corruption.

    What became of our leader in the fight against corruption?

  45. John A Avatar
    John A

    Let us accept that the PM had no option but to sign on to the FATCA. Not doing so would of gotten us back on the Black List for sure at the very least. As for the OECD pushing us to the 15% global tax rate, we will end up there soon too as we can not risk finding ourself in a position where we are penalised.

    Suppose for example the UK government gets tired waiting for us to impose the 15% and legislates that all flights into the Uk and departing the UK, to and from all SIDS not honouring the global tax agreement, will have a £1000 fee attached to their ticket price in 30 days. How long you think we could hold out without the British traveller and those from Europe who fly through the UK to get here?

    Radical move for sure, but what could we do then but implement the 15% immediately?

    Then again all that I read speaks to our development being hung on tourism so we would have only ourselves to blame.

  46. Hopi Avatar
    Hopi

    @ARTAX……FACTA/OECD

    “Rather than avail ourselves with as much information as possible about these issues, we allow our ill-informed discussion to be influenced by emotion and snippets from the media…… ” What ill-informed discussion?

    Listen up here Negro, I searched for info regarding the timeline when these new tax based rules were DESIGNED. Didn’t find such (still searching) Asked if you could avail the audience of such info but you’ve gotten all pissy (talking bout being emotional) You informed us to search, so I presume you have it? Am I right?

    These internationally based rules serve to benefit the ‘white’ overlords not the small Nations and small states comply because they are threatened. Cowards will always buckle to threats.

    Why can’t ‘small states’ form their own accounting,auditing and taxation principles sans the European and US? Why the hell do we always sit on our hands and await the slave masters’ instruction. Aren’t ‘we’ bright enough to plan and implement our own rules based on our needs and economies? What is your free ‘top class’ education good for?

    Can Barbados or any other ‘small actor’ march into the City of London or the US Feds and demand to see their books? Failing such can they penalise them? Why are we allowing them to lord over us?

    The worldwide financial system is designed to bleed and penalise small states while the ‘big dawgs’ suck their blood and laugh in their faces. The few crumbs Barbados gets aren’t enough fill their coffers. Its just enough to keep the wheels turning.

    but I got news for you. The western ‘rules based order’ is DEAD DEAD DEAD. Putin and China killed it and the Sahel Region has dug the grave and is about to bury it.

    So don’t get mad at me for being able to see the road ahead.

  47. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    CARICOM was formed 50 years ago on August 1, 1973…… and the EU 20 years later, on November 1, 1993. Fifty-years is more than enough time for Caribbean territories to develop regionally accepted economic and financial principles, influenced and ratified by international standards. Also, a common currency (similarly to the €), monetary, tax, trade etc policies. OECD and G20 member states have been able to successfully formulate and implement tax rules to which a group of independent Caribbean islands (collectively, CARICOM), must adhere.

  48. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    My friend, never in any of my contributions I made any specific reference to ‘Hopi.’ If such is your belief, then so be it. Surely, according to current sayings, ‘you have issues.’ However, I mentioned in a subsequent contribution that CARICOM is 50 years old and member states have not been able to unite to formulate and implement regionally accepted financial and economic policies, as opposed to the EU, which was formed 20 years after CARICOM. I will state the facts as there are, while avoiding meaningless ‘tit for tats or back and forths, to trade insults.’

  49. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “Free top class education?” Surely you jest. Your insult-filled response to ONLY to my opinion on non-contributory pension, which was also shared by John A, clearly indicated you believe I’m an idiot. But, you’re not alone. Another ‘brilliant’ individual was so upset that he made referring to my ‘appalling ignorance and learning by rote’ a part of his daily routine on BU…. and was silently supported by others. Surely you’ll agree free education was ‘wasted on me.’

  50. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    What is your opinion about these tax rules impinging on you ‘tax sovereignty’?

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

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