THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND’s (IMF) recommendations on tax reform for Barbados would not solve Government’s fiscal challenges in a meaningful way, says Jeremy Stephen, the Barbados Economic Society’s (BEC) president.
And he warned Government that if it implements the IMF’s “most asinine” suggestion that Value Added Tax (VAT) be charged on the sale of properties, it risks a crippling “freeze” on the middle class housing market.
The economist and financial analyst said far from favouring the tax reform suggestions that were 20 years “too late” and would not solve Government’s fiscal challenges meaningfully, he believed the “true problem” the Freundel Stuart-administration now faced was its high interest costs.
Stephen made the statements on Tuesday evening at the Savannah Hotel during an Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados public forum on the IMF recommendations which are contained in the document, A Tax Reform Roadmap For Simplicity And Revenue Buoyancy.
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