A COMPUTER VIRUS AND a lack of money are what’s holding up VAT refunds to farmers.
Revealing that the value added tax system had been “hacked” before its absorption into the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA), Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler said: “We do still pay VAT returns, but not at the pace and rate that it should happen and it is having an impact. That is one of the issues that we are working to resolve.”
The Minister of Finance was responding to a question from past president of the Dairy and Beef Producers Association, Paul Davis, who complained that farmers were waiting for inordinate periods for their VAT returns and that this and other challenges faced by them were killing their livelihood.
Sinckler, who admitted the BRA was having challenges paying out VAT returns, said the online system “went down”.
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