President of the Conference of the Methodist Church in The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Reverend Derek Browne yesterday distanced the church from the call made by former president Rev. Dr. J. Emmette Weir for the government to regulate and tax web shops as a revenue boosting measure.
Weir, the retired pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Grand Bahama, said while there are many Christians who have religious objections to gambling, there are some who agree that web shops should be regulated and taxed.
He said that people have the democratic right to patronize the businesses.
However, Browne said Weir does not have the authority to speak for the Methodist Church, which has been opposed to any form of gambling in The Bahamas, including casinos.
He said he had not read Weir's comments and was uncertain what perspectives he spoke from, but believes that "he may be speaking from the perspective of what is happening with the financial institutions as it relates to banks and the like.
"And what the unregulated funds from web shops are doing to those institutions."
Browne said the Methodist Church met with Prime Minister Perry Christie ahead of the January 2013 gambling referendum and made its position clear then.
"Our position did not change, but the government finds itself in a predicament whereby the whole matter of banking is affected... where there is unregulated flow of funds throughout the country," he said.
"And I believe that provides a dilemma for the government. Now the government will do what it can do, and needs to do, [but] that is up to the government."
He said it remains to be seen whether the government will move to regulate the web shop industry, but if it does, the church will fulfill its obligation to counsel, support and discourage those involved in gambling.
Several government ministers and members of Parliament have thrown their support behind the sector's regulation.
Weir's suggestions were outlined in a essay called 'VAT, Web Shops and the Church'.
In the document, Weir called on the government to delay its implementation of value-added tax and introduce it at a lower rate of 10 percent.
He suggested that VAT's implementation and the proposed regulation of web shops happen simultaneously on March 1, 2015.
On the issue of VAT, Browne said the church has not finalized its position.
However, Browne said he believes with the international pressures and the fiscal challenges of the government, tax reform is necessary and it must find means to better collect outstanding taxes and increase its revenue.
He said he believes VAT is one of several viable options.
Browne said the majority of people opposed to VAT are among the business community, who do not want to have to "open their books to the government".
"The noise that you hear in the market place is not so much from the people, and if it comes from the poor man, he is only saying what he hears someone else saying," he said.
The government plans to introduce VAT on July 1 at a rate of 15 percent in most cases and 10 percent in the hotel sector.
The government has said this is expected to raise an additional $200 million in annual revenue.

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