The government's projected revenue forecast of $12 million from taxing web shops only plays into the narrative that it is paying back web shop bosses, Fort Charlotte MP Dr. Andre Rollins said yesterday.
During his contribution to the budget debate, Rollins, chairman of the Gaming Board, asked if the projected $12 million is "the best we can do".
"A low tax rate and yield from web shops will only strengthen the public's view that a national lottery will be far more beneficial to the state's coffers and national development than the $12 million worth of revenue forecast in this budget," Rollins said.
"This will play into the opposition's existing narrative that we are motivated by some form of political payback as opposed to reducing the country's annual budget deficit, or funding worthy causes such as public education, healthcare, sports, cultural and infrastructural development.
"Failure of web shop tax revenue to meet the public's heightened expectations will inevitably increase public demand for a national lottery, and such an outcome will most certainly be seized upon by the opposition in the run-up to the next general election as an initiative they intend to deliver."
In his recent budget communication, Prime Minister Perry Christie said web shops will be taxed and regulated as of July 1, 2014.
Christie said the Gaming Bill will be debated following the budget debate.
Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe recently suggested to The Guardian that the government will explore introducing a national lottery for the development of sports and education in The Bahamas sometime after it has regulated the web shop industry.
Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis said yesterday that the $12 million projected tax revenue from web shops was a conservative estimate as the government has not yet decided what rate to tax the industry.
He was responding to Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn.
Tax revenue
Rollins said since 2010 it has been stated, under successive administrations, that the yield from the taxation of web shops would range anywhere from $20 million to $40 million.
"If securing a new source of tax revenue is the motivation behind regulating and taxing web shops as indicated by the prime minister, the fundamental question we must all ask for the sake of our country and our government's depleted coffers is this: Is $12 million the best we can do?"
Rollins said while he believes the government should reap much more from the regulation and taxation of the web shop industry, he applauded the government's resolve to at long last apply law and order to it.
He added that web shops should be taxed at a higher rate than hotel-based casinos.
Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder has said that it is estimated the government could take in between $20 million and $100 million annually in taxes from a regulated "electronic gaming industry".
The Gaming Bill was tabled in the House of Assembly last October, but the current bill does not provide for the taxation of web shops.
Christie said the government will amend the bill to improve casino gaming and allow for the regularization and licensing of the web shop industry.
Rollins previously called on the government to regulate and tax web shops.

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