Some members of the private sector have been removing goods from warehouses without paying the relevant duties and taxes to the Customs and Excise Department, according to the latest Auditor General’s Report.
The 2018 report, which was presented to Parliament at the end of last month, examined the financial year April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018. It pointed out that during the review period more than $300,000 in duties and taxes due to breaches of agreements was still outstanding.
Highlighting issues specific to ministries and departments, the auditor general’s office said in relation to the Customs Department there were several warehouses kept by members of the private sector.
“These warehouses store goods on which the relevant duties and taxes have not yet been paid. The duties and taxes are due forthwith on any goods removed from these warehouses,” Auditor General Leigh Trotman said in the report.
“However, in one instance, a firm removed goods with duties payable of $9,741,044 without informing the Customs Department. This matter was subsequently observed by the Financial Controller. It is therefore important to monitor these warehouses to ensure that the relevant payments for goods removed have been made to the Customs Department,” he said.
This monitoring, he said, is usually done through field audits, but no evidence was provided to indicate that field audits were carried out on these warehouses during the year.
In its response, the Customs and Excise Department said it was “severely short-staffed” and therefore does not have enough officers assigned to the field audit unit to conduct audits.
“It is however, erroneous to state that the warehouses were not being monitored for non-payment of duties. The office of the Financial Controller run reports via the ASYCUDA++ System and takes necessary action to recover the outstanding duties and taxes if goods are removed from said warehouses without payment,” the department added.
However, Trotman pointed out that no bonds were presented for audit inspection for 26 private warehouses and 26 in-bond warehouses.
Quoting section 143 of the Customs Act, CAP 66, the auditor general said “No building or place may be used as a private warehouse . . . until a bond in such sum as may be required is provided to the Comptroller.”
“Therefore, the Audit Office was unable to verify whether the operation of these warehouses was in conformity with the Act,” he said.
In relation to the recovery of duties, Trotman pointed out that there were breaches of agreements under the Act in relation to the importation of vehicles free of duties.
The law allows for individuals to be granted permission to import vehicles free of duties, but they must retain ownership of those vehicles for a period of five years, otherwise the duties pertaining to the unexpired portion of years become payable.
“During the year under review, the Ministry of Finance reported duties
totalling $476,651.44 which became payable due to breaches of agreements. Audit efforts to verify whether these unexpired duties were collected were unsuccessful due to a lack of cooperation from the Refunds Manifest and Control Board Unit,” said Trotman.
“It should also be noted that outstanding amounts for the above duties and taxes payable were not reported in the Statement of Arrears of the Department,” he added.
However, the Customs department reported that a search of the ASYCUDA++ records revealed that $174,810.98 has been collected so far, leaving an outstanding balance of $301,840.46.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
And to think that this present BLP Administration is controlled from eyeball to toenail, by the big businesses, and has already granted them massive tax cuts…oh what a shame. Parliament yesterday forgave much of the Vat moneys that they owed the government since 1996. Who is being screwed here? Who is doing the screwing?
Looks like the private sector companies are getting away with murder..not paying taxes lol
This is time all this crooked crap stop in Barbados, time people be arrested and lock down, this is the political crap which plays itself out in Barbados, every day them and us…
Lets see the names of the people / companies who is involve , and who are the people who is allowing this to happen…….
This is how the guns and drugs getting into Barbados,, ……………..
Start charging and locking up these persons. Only bout hey this happens. I am sure they can pay the relevant duties and taxes
Big bucks being passed on
When I said these private warehouses were a huge problem the operatives were ready to string me up.
These warehouse operations were conceptualized under the previous B L P administration. The same way they could remove good without paying the taxes, the same way they could go uninspected due to customs being short on staff, it’s the same way the guns could get into Barbados.
These same businesses just got corporate tax deductions, vat forgiveness by the government, but the government knowing they owed taxes never insisted they pay these outstanding taxes before benefiting from the concessions granted. These concessions should be for businesses of proper standing who owes the crown nothing for heaven sake.
Oh, I forgot the (Businesspeople Loophole Provider) is running all things now. When the provider is in charge the big business people do as they please, and get whatever they desire. Only the poor, and small business person pays.
This place is a complete and utter joke. But yet if I bring 600 dollars in car parts, I gotta provide urine and blood samples and my pet Rufus hind leg paw print…. Man wtf
What’s f- -king new the Auditor General has been screaming bloody murder about this kinda shady dirty dealings by private sector and other waste of taxpayers monies for many moons but yet nothing has been done nor anything will be done.Let’s see what this present day government going to do even though I expect didly squat,remember this government as soon as they were sworn in forgive millions of dollars of outstanding taxes that was owed to the treasury.The Auditor General position got no power he can scream all he want but that’s it,so until that changes expect more of de same skullduggery to continue.
That greenMOUTgiant is telling herself that… “These warehouse operations were conceptualized under the previous B L P administration.”…so when did this TEEFING started and PERFECTED?
EVERYBODY knows that MOST DRUGS and GUNS come through the BRIDGETOWN PORT.
“These same businesses just got corporate tax deductions, vat forgiveness by the government, but the government knowing they owed taxes never insisted they pay these outstanding taxes before benefiting from the concessions granted.”
ALL OF THAT WAS GOING ON SINCE INDEPENDENCE ,and PERFECTED during the period 2008-2018 .
I already tell you all about these WHITE BAJANS AND INDIAN MUSLIMS.
They dont have any scruples at all.
Now what they have done is a CRIME. Let me see who is going to be arrested and charged with this criminal offence.
Or will officialdom look the other way.
These are the same companies if you go into them and take up a deodorant without paying they will call the Royal Barbados Police Force and you would sent to jail for TWELVE MONTHS. THAT IS IF YOU ARE A BLACK BARBADIAN.
Let us see if TRUE JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED HERE???
But I am not holding my breath, after all this is WHITE BAJANS AND INDIAN MUSLIMS we are talking about.
IS SOMEBODY GOING TO JAIL FOR THIS???
Laws of Barbados were broken???
Was DODDS PRISON built only for BLACK BARBADIANS??
Carson is Donville white or an Indian? time you stop sprouting this racial crap
It better to be born lucky than rich,but then again it’s the rich that scamming the government,so in essence these folks are lucky and rich.What an EFFED up place we live in,it will never change.
This is one time I have to agree with The Honorable — sorry can’t call you honourable anymore, nevertheless, I have to agree with you on this one CCC.
What a disgrace from these unscrupulous scammers and I don’t want to hear any Gov’t Minister saying there is nothing they can do about this.
As you well know CCC, when your Gov’t held power the private sector owed the treasury over six hundred million in taxes and one of your Ministers went on a popular call in program and said there is nothing he or his Gov’t could do to make the private sector pay up.
This tells everyone who really runs Barbados.
Did I get this right? The Customs Department does not have enough resources to check of warehouse owners who ought to be paying tens of millions in duties, yet the same department has the resources to check a child’s luggage and find and tax the $50 worth of clothing “concealed” therein?
I would have thought that Customs would deploy their slim resources to ensure that those who import large commercial shipments pay their duties/do their duty.
Am I missing something?
And then we publicly wonder “how the guns and drugs get into the country”? And we wring our hands and ask “but how de yutes get so” and the idiotic”yutes” killing one another,and spending decades in jail, which the genesis of the problem enjoy the good life.
Well the NSRL which was created by the DLP to collect these taxes up front before these goods were moved to the warehouse was removed for the private business people by the BLP. One of the promises for the private sector. The private business merchants owed the government $470 mil.in taxes which was waived for them by the BLP and placed on the backs of the poor called by another name.
“”…time you stop sprouting this racial crap”””
Is this what you call THE TRUTH?????
It is well known in Barbados that WHITE BAJANS AND INDIAN MUSLIMS do as they please in Barbados and get away with it.
Of the total population in Barbados they make up only 3% of the population.
Yet there is nothing too low that they wont do. BRIBE, GREASE HANDS, SLIP ENVELOPES UNDER DOORS, BLACKMAIL, SABOTAGE, BACK STAB, FAIL TO PAY THEIR SHARE OF TAXES, HOLD ON TO EMPLOYEES NIS CONTRIBUTIONS, you name it and they do it with great relish.
I WILL BET ALL THE TEA IN CHINA that no one of the MINORITY RACES in Barbados will see a Court Room for this Crime.
Who will have to report this crime to the Royal Barbados Police Force for an investigation to be started????
Custom Officer, Head of the Customs Dept., the Auditor General, The Minister of Finance????
This kind of issue just shows ,why nothing is going to be done about the drugs and guns entering Barbados…….
Black People in Barbados must know they place, you all cannot expect to interfere with the establishment ………..
There is a lot which goes on in Barbados, that’s why Barbados is continuously been blame as a tax haven ,,, those people outside of Barbados knows what’s going on , the black people is been fed a lot of crap……….
Maybe if they stopped using all paper and making people go from one window to next back to first etc and had scanners and computers and logged everything on the spot they would have less problems
All roads leads to the Custom Officers. Remember the container of chicken legs which had sailed past the Bridgetown port. And not a fellow questioned? or the container of drugs and not A Dam was done about it.
We we have a high ranked naval officer behind bars, followed by a high profile lawyer. Lets continue the clean up.
Check and see who owns the majority of the “private sector ” companies… . Enough said
Is this not a criminal offense? Then the matter should be reported to the DPP.
Don’t care how much money was given to the BLP’s campaign.
What has warehoused goods have to do with drugs and guns pray tell. Are the comments related to the article. I must reread
Charge those blasted people. That is stealing from the state
“..a firm removed goods with duties payable of $9,741,044 ”
……………………………
BMW car -$300,000
House and land in the rolling hills- $1.1 million
…………………………..
Skipper pass me $1.5 Million in hard cash,cause I know that wunnah don’t deal with banks. Case closed.
The big ,big problem, in favour to certain people in Barbados,, The people who is above the laws of the country…
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They will never be real change in Barbados, because change will upset the big up people, that’s why nothing is seen to be done , all black people in Barbados will only do is sing , look upward to the clouds and pray…….
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@,CCC, hail, hail , on the button big, big question, I always asks,, ( Is DODDS only for black people)….
This is a putting together of separate facts that bear no reason together EG: “However, in one instance, a firm removed goods with duties payable of $9,741,044 without informing the Customs Department.
This matter was subsequently observed by the Financial Controller. “In Barbados the average duty for cars are over 200% and most car sellers have an in bond that they take cars from and add cars to as a matter of course and the duties are always paid when the cars are sold after having been prepared and cleaned up for sale but they must be prepared and cleaned up before beaning sold. Yet we are told they had $9,741,044 payable in duties and at the end of the report stating “leaving an outstanding balance of $301,840.46.”
Where is the 9million? It was paid. In all of the bonds around Barbados there must be some outstanding duties at any one time but the low figure of $301,840.46 shows that the system is working and the customs have a handle on all that is going on. This is a none story looking for a gullible author to feed gullible people with a scandal that does not exist. Learn to think for yourself and not follow the fools who do not.