Welcome

Welcome to Rise Up Barbados!

This blog is dedicated to the stimulation of conversation regarding the HIGH levels of duties affecting Barbadians and Barbadian Businesses.

We welcome posts from all sectors of the public and business community.

Whether you're a retailer, consumer or visitor; YOUR views are paramount and together we hope to create discussion that will resonate with our political leaders and drive a movement to CHANGE our duty structure so we Barbadians no longer have to live with HIGH cost of living and an inadequate duty system; a system that not only encourages dishonest practises but also encourages Barbadians and vistors alike to avoid shopping in Barbados on a whole.

Duties in Barbados are based on the CIF (Cost Insurance and Freight) value of the product declared by the importer.  Therefore it is reliant on the IMPORTER to declare the ACTUAL value of the good imported.

The GOVERNMENT charges DUTIES, EXCISE TAX and VALUE ADDED TAX. Some items will attract one or the other but always a combination and these are compounded on each other. I.E if you're charged 40% import duty...it is 40% on the CIF then the importer pays VAT on the CIF PLUS the DUTY.

Barbados on a whole incurs a higher duty structure than most of our Caribbean family. Many times this is explained away as a means of protecting local industry. For example....Clothing is charged a 60% duty on imports. To protect? Well you tell me? As a result Barbadian pay a riduculous price for clothing bought locally and IMPORTERS go out of their way to avoid legitimate channels of import on these items. (Please note this is just an example and not a target...though obviously this highlights the absurdity of our system.)

FOR YOUR REFERENCE:

In 2008/2009 Fiscal Year for the Government. Import Duties contributed $238 Million the revenue of the country. According to an article relating to the top ten taxes for this period, which makes up 90% of the money flowing into the treasury; this $238M was only 9.6% of the 90%.  The No 1 Tax was VAT with 35% ($873mil), No 2 was Corporate Tax with 23.3% ($577mil), No 3 was Income Taxes with 13% ($321mil) Excise Duties made up 7.2% ($178mil)

IF we want to GROW the revenue of the country and STIMULATE spending, how do we go about this? Do we try to increase the 9.6% i.e duties or do we try to increase the VAT and Corporate Tax revenues by increasing the amount of REVENUE they generate (INCREASING SALES and ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN BARBADOS) but NOT increasing percentage of TAXES.

Obviously there are other benefits to increasing the REVENUE of our Barbadian businesses. For example an increase in employment; increase in salaries AND increases in income tax generated as a result of these two. Also the more revenue a business generates, the more profit it makes and corporation tax it pay.

A primary concern with our current customs and excise structure is that the government does not collect all of the duties due to rampant UNDERINVOICING and general public avoidance of declaring incoming goods.

I dare you to find ONE private consumer who imported an item from overseas and who has declared the ABSOLUTE cost of the goods they are bringing into the country. Barrells, suitcases, DHL, Fedex, UPS, friends and family....do consumers ever give customs the right and true cost of the goods they import? Not to mention BUSINESSES! The suitcase trade is rampant for small parts with VIABLE and VATABLE retailers and members of the business sector picking up the tabs for the those who AVOID these duties.

Barbadian Businesses cannot survive the high cost of doing business in Barbados and the government is ignoring this fact and increasing the pressure.

Would it not be better for us to REDUCE duties or even ELIMINATE them altogether to encourage IMPORTATION of more goods and so encourage more LOCAL SPENDING and therefore MORE REVENUE would be generated for the country by our current 17.5% VAT.

We may even encourage shoppers from other Caribbean countries, to come to Barbados to shop. HEY maybe since it may increase tourism, we may get the goverment to stand up and pay attention. This is the only industry that get a bundle of concessions. Not saying it is not important, actually it is the most important industry, but should we ignore the others?

As you are aware VAT is caluculated on the SELLING price of the item. Therefore in order for the company to make a profit on the item the selling price must be an ACTUAL amount and not a fictious amount. VAT cannot be avoided.

In implementing this CHANGE the government would capture the people and businesses that are avoiding duties but would also LOWER the COST OF GOODS to the consumer. Making Barbados a shoppers paradise for locals and visitors alike.

GOVERNMENT must be PROGRESSIVE in their thinking.  They need to recognise that the middle class Barbadian can no longer bear the burden of the country and the current budget and economic climate are not only STIFLING spending locally (among tourists as well) but encouraging spending OVERSEAS and a general MALAISE that is consuming the island.  They need to welcome ideas from the private sector and start recognising the loss of revenue they encourage as the barrell trade grows.

We need to make a STAND. We need to RISE UP. We need to let our voices be heard and in the tradition of movements before, TAKE BACK our country and encourage economic GROWTH so that the current generation of ENTREPENEURS and VISTORS do not desert our shores for more affordable lands.

I don't see the government cutting THEIR spending. Do you?  Yet they expect us to pay MORE taxes, PAY more duties, PAY MORE MORE MORE to support THEIR overspending.

RISE UP BARBADOS.....this is a democracy...and we have a VOICE....lets hear YOURS.