Chamber of Commerce President: Gov’t Has to Find Ways of Tracking Income Without Adding New Taxes

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – The Nassau Guardian is reporting that international rating agency Fitch has rejected the Davis administration’s projected surplus.

Instead, Fitch estimates the government ended the 2025/26 fiscal year with a deficit of 0.5 percent of gross domestic product.

That translates to a deficit of about 77 million dollars, rather than the surplus projected by the government.

When asked about the report, Bahamas Chamber of Commerce President Don Williams says the government needs to focus on cutting costs as part of any fiscal changes.

Don Williams – President, Bahamas Chamber Of Commerce

“But also finding proper ways of gaining their income or tracking their income properly without having to add new taxes. Let’s collect what’s already on the books. Keep it current, keep it accurate, and also be transparent in respect to reporting.”

Then there’s the conversation around progressive tax reform.

Williams says the chamber is now forming a tax committee to examine possible tax measures the government could take, calling for fairer, equitable taxing.

Don Williams – President, Bahamas Chamber Of Commerce

“It’s not just about adding a new tax. It’s not just about adding in your system. It’s how to ensure that industries are being taxed fairly. We do not want to talk ourselves out of the global marketplace. We want to ensure that we’re doing what’s necessary for the government to be able to have revenue for things such as infrastructure.”

But Williams didn’t stop there.

He also addressed the ongoing issues surrounding Bahamas Power and Light, saying the impact is being felt widely.

Don Williams – President, Bahamas Chamber Of Commerce

“For businesses, it is impacting them dramatically. Some businesses had to close. Some businesses had issues where they had to lay staff off. Others lost business, obviously, because of the timeframe. The expense is great, so whether they had to invest in generators or just because they have to close due to the amount of days that they were out of power.”

So what should tax reform look like?

Don Williams – President, Bahamas Chamber Of Commerce

“One, we need to go back to proper budgeting, but you need to go back to proper transparency. We need to manage our expenses, our income, how it’s coming in. That’s really the first and foremost in terms of reform we need to take into place before we go in now and say that we want to add additional taxes on the country.”