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Submitted by Anonymous Civil Servant

Dear David, I write to the blog as a civil servant and a friend of a business person. I am concerned about how wicked and rude some of my colleagues can be. Some may say I have sour grapes but wrong is wrong.

Would you believe that some staff at CAIPO are threatening to deregister many businesses because the owners did not know about the annual filings? Concern was expressed that it is unfair that persons owning small businesses are getting penalized $10 a day for every year outstanding. Could this be fair to these small businesses who are struggling with lack of human and financial resources?

David, I was encouraged to write to you as the newspapers refused to publish a letter my friend sent  with her concerns. CAIPO has all the companies registered and never sent out any correspondence about the filings yet heavy-handedly is now threatening to deregister my friend’s company because she cannot pay the over $12,000 for 4 years.

These politicians sit down and pass stupid laws and then civil servants with bad attitudes blindly execute. Imagine my friend is now attending doctor very depressed with high blood pressure. Where is the humanity in all this  when Courts Barbados and others can get millions written off? $60M in Four Seasons and $54M for Whiteoak.

If these civil servants continue to destroy businesses and lives someone who has lost it all will take matters in their own hands. David, the Prime minister needs to call off the uncaring arrogant staff at CAIPO whose stupid mantra, is them should know about the filings and them want all the arrears.

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82 responses to “Who cares about small business?”

  1. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Northern Observer,

    Keep trying! I don’t answer silly questions. No ducking. Just ignoring.

    This information has been in the public domain for years now, even on BU. I’m sure you didn’t miss it.

    Let us go back to your problem with my introducing the racial element into the conversation as is my wont, according to you!

    If it is true, then what really is the problem?

    Big white men does get way with wage theft in the form of NIS deductions and withholding VAT taken from customers.

    THEFT! Actual monies taken from people. Not some fee that government arbitrarily says you owe.

    I am far more concerned about THAT basic and natural law. The law that say,”Thou shalt not steal!” Even animals understand that law. Some break it, but they understand.

  2. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    Hi Rabbit,
    Was beginning to wonder how things were going with you. Told myself ‘that foolish man drank the water and caught covid’

    Good to see you are still around and fighting the good fight.
    –x–
    Tired of hearing of this black and white Barbados. Time to end that noise.

    “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which”.
    Pig=black politician
    Man= rich white
    Creatures outside=average Barbadian

  3. Eckie Beckie Avatar
    Eckie Beckie

    @NothernObserver, my mum worked for Kyffin Simpson in the 70s and every other check bounced…he got frustrated after failure and left Barbados. EWB encouraged him and guaranteed a loan from CDB. So if not for EWB he would not have made it. Who remember International Sea Foods Ltd?

  4. RH Angry Avatar
    RH Angry

    @Northernobserver, “I cannot comment on the communication, as I just paid the fee and filled in the paperwork. ” I detect a tinge of arrogance and pompousness…lol

    Never, look down on those who are less equal or less connected. Hope you are having a great day

  5. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Lucid Dreaming
    I had a dream the other night where the black people in the crowd at a concert who were mixed race turned white and blonde and after the concert ended people stayed on and rapped and sang and gave out books to each other and everyone was close friends and part of a small closed knit community. It reminded me of (a) Barbados (b) Underground.

  6. RH Angry Avatar
    RH Angry

    @Donna, you are so damn on the money with the digital submission of data, PR and radio promos similar to the VAT rollout. Weak civil servants unable to think and stupid arrogant politicians with power that gone to their head. $10 a day is a lot of money. Its very unnerving when persons in small businesses are called upon to pay all arrears plus penalties of over $3000 by the CAIPO staff who lack empathy

  7. John Avatar
    John

    What does the Companies Act say about annual filings?

  8. John Avatar
    John

    15A. (1) Subject to this section, every company having a share
    capital, except an external company to which section 343 applies, shall,
    not later than 31st January in every year,
    (a) file with the Registrar an annual return in the manner and form
    prescribed; and
    (b) at the time of filing under paragraph (a) pay the prescribed fee.
    (2) A company that is in default in complying with the requirements of
    subsection (1) is liable to a penalty of $10 payable to the Registrar for
    every day during which the default continues; and every director and office of the company who knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits the
    default is also liable to that penalty.
    (3) Pursuant to section 412, the Registrar may strike off the
    register a company that neglects or refuses to file an annual return
    required under this section.
    (4) The Registrar may issue guidelines or administrative
    directions for the efficient administration of this section including
    directions in respect of the submission of the annual return in
    electronic format

  9. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Talk about getting the cart before the horse!

    You say, “End the noise!”

    I say, “End racism!”

    Then the noise shall end.

    I don’t whisper sweet nothings to racist “white” rabbits!

  10. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    In other words, the average white man has first to be convinced that he has something in common with the black man, and share a common fate, instead of strutting around thinking, “At least I am not black!”

    Fred Hampton, and in the later stages, MLK, were both trying to accomplish that.

    And look at where the USA is today! Those rednecks are more racist than ever!

  11. John Avatar
    John

    Grasshopper

    I don’t get water from Spring Garden and the desal plant but from Belle/Newmarket.

    You like numbers so check these out!!

    https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-gaza-health-ministry-fakes-casualty-numbers

  12. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    The Barbados situation is not the same as the US situation.

    Unlike the American negro, we in Barbados had political power for over 60 years. Our condition results from the fact that black politicons act like the pigs in Animal farm.

    They do little or nothing to advance the state of the average Bajan; their only interested being enrichment of self, friends and family.

    They are full of proposal and initiatives, but we soon learn that these are nothing more than schemes/con/games. They talk of 10,000 houses in five years and cannot build 2 prefabricated houses in 3 years.

    There will be no recovery in that island until folks there hold politicians to a higher standard. The large promises, the grandiose schemes, the plans that transfer assets from one group to another must all be rejected.

    theogazerts@yahoo.com

  13. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Haiti, Barbados, United States, Rhodesia, South Africa, it is all the same, but different. It’s the same thing everywhere.
    The Blacks are the same and the Whites are the same all over the world.
    Now the Whites don’t want to talk about it

  14. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Donna
    I had no problem, you choose to ignore.
    I will also posit, that Barbadians of all hues and religions have avoided investing IN Barbados over the past 20 years.
    The foreign ownership of Barbados grows annually under the umbrella of foreign direct investment.
    As such, the age old comparison of black vs white, which was local black vs local white, may today be a version of local vs foreign?
    But meanwhile, Barbadians have been investing elsewhere. This is what drives those in Govt crazy.

  15. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @RH Angry
    You are free to detect as you see things.
    Yet you seemingly chose to omit I also stated the penalties were exorbitant.
    I always try, as best as I could, to know what the rules/laws were.
    If one doesn’t know or isn’t aware, runs afoul, and suddenly faces these levies, what choice do you have but to cry murder and get them removed? It is a lot of money.
    It is an interesting tactic to place the blame on the public service, one most Bajans have historically avoided. Any port in a storm?
    The Blogmaster went higher up the food chain, which drew the ire of a resident party supporter.
    If you read some of my pet topics, Clearwater Bay, White Oaks etc, you will find documents laid before the House, that many have no idea even exist. It took several on BU an age to figure out, the financial restructuring of ’18, would ultimately affect both benefits and costs of the NIS. The shit only hit the fan, when a formal announcement made changes official.
    Same here? If the penalties were not being enforced, this blog thread would not exist?

  16. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @EckieBeckie
    Find a story of a successful businessperson, without failures, and you’ve found a lie.
    I don’t know the full story of the entity you mention, but KS and EWB have frequently been connected.
    KS appears to have done ok after the loan. Sometimes we all need a little help. And some luck doesn’t hurt either.

  17. John Avatar
    John

    The OG
    March 13, 2024 at 3:59 pm
    Rate This

    The Barbados situation is not the same as the US situation.

    Unlike the American negro, we in Barbados had political power for over 60 years.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    So Grasshopper

    What do you conclude from this bit of empirical evidence?

    1. Keep political power out of negroes hands

    …or….

    2. It isn’t political power that does the trick, after all a politician is always for sale.

    What you will find is that prior to independence there wasn’t much cash around so there was no great incentive for politicians to be bought.

    Rather just do their jobs and build their country.

    In the 1960’s big countries fell over themselves to give aid to Barbados and the world.

    Politicians’ eyes lit up!!

    CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency founded 1968) and USAID (United States Agency for International Development, founded 1961.)

  18. John Avatar
    John

    … and you can bet those who got jobs at the aid agencies made sure the politicians’ hands in the big countries were greased.

    Look at Biden.

    He got millions of dollars not because he was a capitalist but because he was a parasite and managed to survive as a politician for 50 years.

  19. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Northern

    Truth is there is little opportunity for the average person to invest in on the island. Hence the high volume of deposits on the bank. Also after Clico and the debt restructuring, many aint want to hear a thing about depositing money anywhere buy at the bank or under the bed.

    Local companies continue to sell off to foreigners, with the latest one being Stanfield Scot. Its not that we are not good business people, its that to operate a stand alone in Barbados is expensive as tail and full of bureaucratic red tape. When however they group the Barbados operation with their other entities the situation improves. Compare the cost of clearing a 20ft container of goods in Barbados to Trinidad and you will see what I mean. But instead of looking at these areas we will continue with the $10 a day fee and making small people fill out forms as this will help correct things.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    Is it true to say if there were other investment opportunities it would not make a difference? There is a reason Barbadians have been tagged risk averse.

  21. John Avatar
    John

    Is it time to end land taxes altogether?
    What do the Commonwealth of Dominica, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands and Monaco have in common? They are among the list of countries that have decided to spare their citizens the imposition of land taxes.
    From Bible times, the tax man was hated, and in 2024, he has found no more favour among taxpayers. Frankly, with the high cost of living in Barbados, the idea of paying more taxes is as unpleasant as the need for an enema.
    People are reasonably asking questions about the fairness of imposing a tax on an asset that a person acquires unless one is disposing of that asset and making a gain from its disposal.
    Moreover, in a country comprising mainly the descendants of enslaved people who were deprived for hundreds of years of owning assets such as land, citizens are finding it difficult to reconcile that people could lose ownership of land they paid for or inherited if they had the misfortune of not having the wherewithal to pay the associated land taxes.
    Others have remarked that the imposition of a land tax serves to keep such a limited and valuable asset out of the hands of ordinary citizens.
    Although various administrations have introduced measures to ameliorate the hindrances to land ownership such as the Freehold Purchase Act, land tax relief for pensioners, and a floor below which land tax is not applied, the fact remains that even in rural parts of the country land acquisition is a very costly pursuit.
    Adding fuel to a debate that is already searing are whispers of questionable activity at the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA), the country’s largest state revenue collection agency.
    As long as those allegations of unfairness in tax demands imposed on some landowners remain unchallenged, John Public’s confidence in the institution will be diminished.
    People are wondering what exactly is taking place at this institution and for the sake of the reputations of those being questioned, the institution needs to respond.
    The Biblical admonition to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s” insists we pay what is due to the government or the legitimate authority. However, in 2024, citizens demand that their tax dollars are levied fairly and are used judiciously.
    It is therefore reasonable to expect the BRA to respond in a decisive and convincing way to the ongoing concerns.
    In this publication, the concerns of some landowners were exposed.
    Complaints emanating from the seat of Parliament through St Philip North Member of Parliament Dr Sonia Browne require us to focus on the issue.
    In her personal appeal from the backbench, Dr Browne sought relief from the land tax assessment on her home which moved from $3 200 to $8 000.
    With the taxes on some owners rising by more than 1 000 per cent, affected residents are rightfully calling it “inequality or lack of fairness”.
    BRA Revenue Commissioner Louisa Lewis- Ward told one resident in correspondence that the previous amounts he was being asked to pay were incorrect and the current bill was now the correct amount due.
    If such a situation represents correcting a wrong, it would appear that in a matter of years, some people could find themselves “taxed out” of their own properties due to these harsh impositions by the state.
    One resident intimated that he would effectively be paying the government “$400 every month to rent [his] own property. This doesn’t make any sense to me”.
    As much as Barbadians wish to play their role in supporting the number and quality of social services we enjoy as citizens, the taxation cannot be so onerous as to drive people underground to evade their obligations. Neither should tax requirements be so high as to make the acquisition of assets by ordinary citizens so deeply prohibitive that land ownership becomes the exclusive purview of a select few.

  22. John Avatar
    John

    Barbados Today Editorial

  23. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    PMMIA cares.

    https://nationnews.com/2024/03/13/haymans-market-officially-opened/

  24. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @JohnA
    The circular joke being, Brydens was initially a Bajan firm. Now owned in the majority (60%) by a Jamaican entity.
    And yet, this is about owners looking for an ‘exit strategy’. This is all about the colour of money. AND, if they have no family to carry it on, you sell it.
    Naturally there are economies of scale. And while there were extenuating circumstances, how do we explain a country with nearly as many insurance agencies as churches, allowing ICBL to fall into foreign ownership?
    This PM entered office, and the stock market was mentioned several times. It doesn’t function. It only provides exorbitant fees to traders, making it foolhardy for the smaller investor. It is not a place for smaller businesses to raise money.

  25. David Avatar
    David

    The following was posted via BU’s Contact Box on the sidebar.

    “Earnest Hugh Cannings, HiLo morphed into Massy. Mr Cannings left UK and went to Trinidad and the rest is history. When the tax holidays and incentive are no more the large companies move to domiciles with a lower labor cost. Hotel play low wages and import most stuff while most of the FX never reached Barbados. Yet small business are not given the same opportunities but are subjected to the same regulatory gymnastics. I have a staff of 3 and limited human resources access. Many checks and balances exist to know who is operating business. Thus the annual is a RH unnecessary regulatory requirement.”

  26. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David

    The truth is from the time we had the debt restructuring and local bond holders were decimated, Bajans was done with investing anywhere but the bank.

    I am sure you would of heard old Bajans say ” i putting mine in bonds that guarantee by we government” along with a wash of other similar statements. Barbadian bonds were seen as the safest place for an older person to have their money. In their view it was safe and yielded them a little better return as well. Then sunkyuh came along and destroyed their second hope which was the NIS fund, or as the ad use to say ” its your lifeline.”

    So as a neutral self thinking Bajan who was burnt say in Clico and with government paper, you going back there again? Faith lost is hard and in some cases impossible to restore. So the result is billions on the bank and nobody aint touching it cause they feel at least their capital is safe, even if the return is close to zero.

  27. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    Savings Bonds were not touched by the restructure. Saving in a bank or credit union in not investing.

  28. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David

    You missing my point it is about securing what you have. A 60 year old for example knows if he loses a part of his nest egg the chance of him being able to rebuild it by retirement is slim. A 25 year old would have a different case. Its more about protecting what you have as you get older and less about return on what you have.

  29. UK Limey Avatar
    UK Limey

    The two most dangerous species in Barbados are politicians and civil servants with power. Have black political parties hindered or helped black Bajans to truly take their seat at the economic tables? You tell me we moved from the plantation to own a chattel house only for our offspring to get a better house and an acre now the RH jackasses trying to use taxes to take it away. Why are the governments pushing Bajans to the brink of civil unrest and chaos?

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2024/03/13/rates-raised-on-plots-larger-than-two-acres-deemed-farmland/

  30. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Doing my self imposed punishment.listening to Down to Brasstacks on VoB929.lol

  31. John Avatar
    John

    Ah boy Hants

    UWI vex with the CJ and responded today.

    All we want to see now is Return of the Jedi.

    Something got them all hot and sweaty.

    Second Episode – The Empire Strikes back.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2024/03/17/the-uwi-defends-law-programme-after-concerns-by-chief-justice-its-not-rigorous-enough/

    First Episode – Star Wars

    https://nationnews.com/2024/03/16/chief-justice-slams-law-at-uwi/

  32. Post Graduate Avatar
    Post Graduate

    NEARLY 2000 LAWYERS IN BARBADOS. 2800 LAWYERS IN TRINIDAD WITH A POPULATION OF 1.5M PERSONS. MANY CANNOT GET WORK ARE MARCHING AND NOT EVEN MAKING 25 CENTS MONTHLY AS A
    LAWYER. UWI IS JUST ABOUT MAKING MONEY AND NOT MEETING THE HUMAN RESOURCE NEEDS OF THE CARIBBEAN.

    Barbados got too many lawyers who are mostly ambulance chasers

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