By Ken Storey
In 2015, when the Bahamas switched from a sales tax to a Value Added Tax, it was celebrated as a win for tourists, who saw a 2.5 percent decrease in taxes.
The former 10 percent Hotel Tax was lowered to the nationwide 7.5 percent VAT, but now, amid increased borrowing, the Caribbean nation has increased the VAT to a whopping 12 percent.
The goal for the 4.5 percent increase in the VAT is to help offset cost overruns in the government, which took out $2 billion in new loans in the past year.
According to Tribune 242, a popular daily paper in the Bahamas, previous research shows a similar increase could result in more than a 10 percent decrease in tourism to the nation, with tourists paying more than $300 million in extra taxes. Read more >>