Nevis small hotels food and beverage imports freed from tax

The Premier of Nevis, Joseph Parry delivering his budge speech

This announcement was made this morning (Dec. 9) by the Premier of Nevis, the Hon. Joseph Parry, when he read his budget speech at the Nevis House of Assembly.

Small hotels will be required to pay only the 12 percent customs service charge, the Premier said.

“We will also work with the Federal government to enact legislation to provide direct assistance to the small hotels. However, they will be expected to pay their taxes on time and demonstrate a willingness to improve marketing, training and overall service quality.  The legislation will be passed next year,” he said.

Premier Parry said though 2007 has been a challenging year due to the global economic crisis, his government had delivered on its promise. He listed certain projects that have been completed and initiated in the year under review.

These, he said, include transformation of the infrastructure with the completion of the island’s main road and many secondary roads, an additional one million gallons of potable water per day were added to alleviate the water shortage that plagued the island due to lack of investment by the previous administration, and the drag strip has been completed and is rated as the best in the region.

The Premier said a school feeding programme, a homework assistance programme, an outreach to the elderly and the training of over 400 people are some of the other projects that have been implemented. Also achieved is the establishment of the Nevis Cultural Foundation..

 Premier Parry cited the exploration of geothermal energy as the one of the most important achievement and thanked the Organisation of American States (OAS) for its technical assistance.

~~Adz:Left~~In his fiscal review, the Premier said that the Current Revenue for 2007 increased by $7,006,157 or 7.1 percent over 2006, amounting to $104,925,833. Current Expenditure increased by 6.24 or $6, 258,014, recording a total of $106,560,538 in 2007.

He said Capital Expenditure had more than doubled over 2006 contributing to an overall deficit of $17,250,015 in 2007, which was an improvement over the deficit of $19,565,714 realised in 2006 due to increased collections and high loan disbursements in 2007.

“The construction of the island main road and secondary roads were the main source of the outlay,” he added.

According to the Premier’s budget address, the total amount spend on these projects was $28,472,163, which was 63 percent of total Capital Expenditure. Other areas of significant expenditure in 2007 were as follows: Additional Office Space at the Ministry of Finance $524,581, Basic Education Project $1,555,923, Airport Project $703,740, Secondary Village Roads $792,302, Water Service Upgrade $1,501,707, Agro-Processing Plant $500,000 and Improvement to Community Centres and Recreational facilities $699,989.

As at December 31, 2007, the Debt Stock of Nevis Island Administration totalled $240,643,802, representing an increase of 4.25 percent over the amount of $230,822,655 recorded in 2006.

The Premier said the Debt Servicing in 2007 amounted to $32,686,359 representing a decrease of 3.51 percent over the amount of $33,876,114 in 2006 and 31.2 percent of total Current Revenue. The total Public Sector Debt is $344,500,000 ($169,380,000 external and $175,120,000 domestic financing).

He said revenue collection was “quite robust” in 2007. Consumption tax-customs increased by 14.96 percent or $2,321,552, and Social Services Levy increased by 14.82 percent or $1,106,322. Offshore Financial Services increased by 9.36 percent or $1,059,810 while Hotel Room and Restaurant Tax increased by $814,966 or 8.15 percent.

The Premier said all ministries had realised increases in their collections.

By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter, SKNVibes.com