National

PM: Government Losing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Prime Minister Philip Davis told Parliament hundreds of millions of dollars have been lost yearly through alcohol and tobacco smuggling.

Published

10 months ago

February 21, 2024

Berthony McDermott

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – In a shocking revelation during his Mid-Year Budget statement in the House of Assembly Wednesday, Prime Minister Philip Davis told Parliament hundreds of millions of dollars have been lost yearly through alcohol and tobacco smuggling and tax avoidance schemes.

Davis revealed the recent discovery came from data collected by a recently established Analytical Unit in the Ministry of Finance which uncovered multiple instances of tax avoidance.

But the shocking revelations didn’t end there, as Davis said nearly $500 million in cash and nearly $1 million in alcohol was seized in the past three months alone.

Even more distressing, Davis says is that auditors and investigators are still probing many other tax avoidance schemes with a potential revenue loss of another $100 million.

But it wasn’t all bad news from the prime minister who said his administration is making considerable progress in improving the tax system.

In the case of real property tax, he says government is expecting a higher yield than in the last fiscal period.