CEO of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) Edison Sumner said yesterday that he expects value-added tax (VAT) registration numbers for local businesses to "expand significantly", despite sluggish initial figures.
Sumner, who also serves as the co-chair of the recently established VAT Education Task Force, stated that he "didn't expect a rush" on the first day of registration eligibility for businesses after Financial Secretary John Rolle revealed earlier this week that the Ministry of Finance had received less than 40 VAT registration applications from not even two dozen companies following the launch of the online registration service.
Approximately 4,500 businesses must register for VAT before November 30. Applications for mandatory registration apply to businesses with annual turnovers exceeding $100,000.
Sumner attributed the low figures to lingering uncertainty from members of the business community over the tax's implications.
"A lot of companies are still going through the process of understanding what VAT is about and its implications. But we expect [the number of registrants] to expand significantly over the next several weeks."
"The chamber has already held two or three registration workshops and registered a few companies through the process. We didn't expect a run on registration on day one," said Sumner.
The ministry additionally received 21 applications for customs transitional warehousing arrangements, which cater to large inventory retailers, including food stores, clothing stores and building supply stores. The government expected to process several more applications before the recently passed October 15 deadline.
The Ministry of Finance continues to conduct workshops with the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA), BCCEC and the VAT Education Task Force, which will focus on increasing public education and awareness regarding the tax beyond the January 1, 2015 implementation date.
Sumner noted that the BCCEC would begin expanding its registration workshops to the Family Islands starting today in Abaco, where roughly 200 businesses are scheduled to attend.
"As we move about the country, we should see an increase in registration, particularly once we get the task force in motion to assist the government in continuing with registration workshops and preregistration workshops," said Sumner.
The group effort is currently conducting workshops on New Providence on a sustained basis for the next several months, with upwards of three workshops a day capable of assisting 60 to 80 businesses a day with the registration process.

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