VAT Collections Up 28.5 Percent

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Value Added Tax (VAT) collection and revenue appear to be on the rise, according to the latest fiscal report for February 2022.

Berthony McDermott reports.

For January and February value-added tax collection increased by $165.5M or 28.5 percent when compared to January and February 2020, according to Financial Secretary Simon Wilson.

This despite the rate of vat decreasing from 12 percent to 10 percent across the board on January 1st.

Wilson however, attributed the increase in collections to an economy on the rebound among other things.

Secretary also revealing that revenue receipts totaled $197.4M.

Tax collections total $178.7M. A breakdown of that figure shows:

• $85.8M in VAT receipts
• $38.6M in international trade and transactions taxes
• $30.4m in other taxes on goods and services and $17.2M in property taxes

Meanwhile, expenditure contracted by 4.4 percent in February when compared to January 2022, but showed a 10.1 percent increase when compared to February 2020.