The Value-Added Tax (VAT) Task Force has finalized its VAT registration checklist for local businesses in an effort to address concerns over the registration process and provide necessary clarity as businesses begin the registration process.
Jasmine Davis, VAT Task Force co-chair and immediate past president of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA), told Guardian Business yesterday that the checklist was an added precaution to increase local understanding and "connect the dots" to ensure a smooth registration process.
"We're seeking to connect the dots between all of these points of revenue for the government. Although the registration requirements are spelled out in the government's VAT registration booklet, we thought that we should prepare a checklist so that people could have all of the items ready to go," said Davis.
Online VAT registration became available on October 13. All businesses with annual taxable sales exceeding $100,000 will be required to register for VAT by November 30.
Although initial reports from the Ministry of Finance indicated that only 20 of the country's 4,500 VAT-eligible businesses had registered for the tax as of Wednesday, Task Force members have since claimed that figures have increased.
Davis noted that the checklist paid particular attention to several common misconceptions surrounding registration requirements, such as business license control numbers and the exact address of businesses' operations.
"The distinction was needed for business addresses. Registration requires not where businesses are legally registered, such as attorneys' offices, but where it is that your business is physically operating.
"That was one of the concerns, and another was that we need your business license control number and not just your business license number," said Davis. She added that the task force took into consideration information received from the government during the registration vetting process, and would continue to address challenges faced by local businesses as it continues its educational outreach programs.

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