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Thompson Announces 2008 Barbados Budget,
by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Barbados Prime Minister, David Thompson announced in his recent 2008 budget speech that the international business services sector would continue to be a major source of foreign exchange earnings, and he pledged to put in place tax and legal reforms to attract more regional and international companies to establish in the country.
Thompson told parliament in the budget speech on 7th July that more urgency
will be placed on the negotiation of additional double taxation treaties and
bilateral investment treaties between Barbados and other countries.
"Particular emphasis will be placed on negotiations with the countries
of Latin America and Asia so that we have a network of treaties that straddles
all major countries and positions us to compete with jurisdictions that have
an extensive network of double taxation treaties," he announced.
Thompson also said that the government would put in place other new measures
to improve the country's business competitiveness, with an emphasis on making
the jurisdiction an attractive one for the setting up of corporate headquarters.
"These include tax benefits, immigration arrangements for senior and professional
staff and their families, relaxation of exchange controls on capital transactions,
bilateral investment treaties, dispute settlement arrangements, educational
and health facilities and skills availability," he explained.
Thompson went on to announce that banks and insurance companies registered
under the Mortgage Insurance Act, which provide low income loans on properties
up to $150,000, will pay corporation tax at the reduced rate of 12.5% on profits
earned from such loans.
He also announced that individuals earning up to $15,000 will be entitled to
an increased reverse tax credit of $1,300, effective in the 2008 income year.
There were also a number of revenue raising measures in the budget designed
to help cover the government's public spending commitments. These included an
increase in the insurance premium tax by 1% in a bid to raise and additional
$6.6mn a year, and increase in the fees paid by insurance companies from $5,000
per year to $20,000 per year. Justifying this increase, Thompson argued that
the current fees paid by insurance companies are "very low figure for an
industry that does so well financially from our economy."
Licence fees for financial institutions, which have not been increased for
ten years, will also be raised from the 1st January, as follows: Local –
main branch: $250,000 per bank; Local – other branches: $20,000 per additional
branch; Local – ATM’s: $1000 per ATM other than at branches; International
banks $100,000 per bank; and Trust companies $100,000 per company. These changes
are estimated to yield $4.9 million in a full year.
The rates of the environmental levy have also been increased, from 1.5% and
2% to 2% and 3% respectively. The rate of environmental levy on both new and
used cars will be standardized and will be fixed at the rate of $1,500 per vehicle.
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