| Members of the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association (AHTA) have rejected outright a proposed 10% tax on restaurants and car rentals with effect from January 2012. |
The meeting on Tuesday this week, chaired by Executive Director of the AHTA, Gilda Gumbs-Samuel, was well attended by hoteliers and restaurant and car rental operators. The Government was represented by Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes; his Adviser, Jerome Roberts; Finance Officer, Wycliffe Fahie; Comptroller of Inland Revenue, Gecheal Richardson; and Technical Adviser to the Government and the Tax Reform Group, Ved Gandhi.
The AHTA circulated a position paper (that listed some of the taxes imposed since February 2010, as well as various import duties) which strongly set out its reasons for objecting to the 10% tax.
“This tax will stifle the small local and independent restaurants in addition to the hotel restaurants,” the paper stated in part. “Both sides will suffer, and this will only impact on the staff, as the owners and managers will have to look at creative ways of reducing the cost of doing business. There is no question that imposing this tax will result in loss of business as less guests will go out to the restaurants to eat. In an effort to keep their customers, restaurant operators will look at removing the service charge on guests’ cheques which would impact on the employees directly. By imposing an additional guest service tax on every restaurant cheque and car rental contract, the Government is encouraging a non-compliant issue from both sides and this will only jeopardise everyone’s business.”
Notwithstanding its position paper, the AHTA tasked two members of a “think tank group”, Alan Gumbs and Eudoxie Webster, to speak largely on its behalf.Mr. Gumbs said hotels and restaurants were already very heavily taxed. “What we have determined on the basis of us going forward so far, is that the last thing Anguilla needs at this point is taxes,” he declared. “We have discovered tax is regressive in Anguilla at this time. That to me seems very simple because if you examine your revenue, since you imposed these taxes, you will find that your revenue has not gone up, it gone down…It is clear that taxation is not the way forward for Anguilla.” Mr. Gumbs went on: “As far as we can see, and in the discussions we have had, the only thing that would really help Anguilla is for us to raise our very sad 33% occupancy level to 60% and that, of course, would certainly cure the problem. To go about that, we have to examine what we are doing in tourism from the standpoint of marketing. There has to be some input of investment into that marketing structure to carry us to the higher level.” “This [new 10% tax] is just outrageously ridiculous in terms of what we are doing in Anguilla,” Mr. Gumbs asserted. “Our viewpoint is very simple. We will not accept another tax in Anguilla.” Eudoxie Webster pleaded: “Lay off the restaurants otherwise we will have to take it [the 10% tax] from the service charge and you will have 4,000 people down at Mr. Hughes’ office, and this will be his last year. Try to work with us. You can’t kill us.” There were various other comments from members expressing objection to the 10% tax on restaurants and car rentals. Chief Minister Hughes charged that Anguilla’s “biggest dilemma is Britain which is not our friend” and that “the Governor is working against us… and using the IMF visit to emphasise all the British taxes.” Mr. Hughes continued: “About this last thing about taxing restaurants and taxing car rentals: People’s car rentals are parked in their yard. All of them; so let them tax. Already, tourists are complaining that they cannot eat in Anguilla because it is too expensive…We are taxing ourselves to death and I want to say this, and I want Nat Hodge to report this: that the British is our dilemma. The British Government is not our friend. They are no asset to us. They are our liability… “Every development project that has come to this island from the private sector, since I am in Government, the Governor has been sabotaging it – from Cinnamon Reef right down to Flag Luxury. I had a big fight the other day with him about Scrub Island because everything he tries to sabotage, and he is using one of my Ministers to assist him…The British is out to destroy the economy. I don’t know what the goal is, but [what] I believe is that they want the piece of land; they don’t want the people to live here…but we cannot survive under this kind of pressure. It is a deliberate war against the people of Anguilla, and we have to fight together because I told them that I will not be a robot. I will not go back to the House of Assembly and pretend that I can approve taxes of this nature because it can’t work. “Now, basically, I want you to know that the British can do what they like with me. I am prepared to go to jail if they want to put me in jail, but these taxes will not see the light of day in my House of Assembly. They will have to get rid of me as they did beforebut they will not because it is ‘stupidness’. You impose taxes sometimes to control consumption [on goods] and a lot of the taxes that we have imposed have done just that. They have reducedconsumption of these commodities. That was not intended. It was to produce more money, but produced less because the people are not consuming these things. “Right now I was going to the House of Assembly to reduce, just for three months, from now to the end of the year, Import Duty on motor vehicles and parts to see a little revenue in the Treasury. That I am trying to pass so that people can take advantage of it and bring in [vehicles].” The Chief Minister, who referred to other matters, concluded: “We have a problem on our hands; and I am telling you that I will not make an ass of myself. I will not go to the House of Assembly and put [pass] any of these taxes (Applause).” The Executive Director of the AHTA brought the meeting to a close stating that it had achieved its purpose, having been given the Chief Minister’s assurance about not imposing the 10% tax. |
