{"id":150635,"date":"2019-11-01T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=150635"},"modified":"2019-11-04T15:34:57","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T20:34:57","slug":"5-reasons-taxing-digital-commerce-good-move-caribbean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2019\/11\/5-reasons-taxing-digital-commerce-good-move-caribbean\/","title":{"rendered":"5 reasons why taxing digital commerce might not be a good move in the Caribbean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caribbean governments are continually trying to identify additional sources of revenue for their respective countries. There has been a proposal for Caribbean governments to tax digital commerce. We outline some reasons why it should not be pursued.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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This past October, Ministers of Finance from across the Caribbean region attended the 2019 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, which was held in Washington D.C., in the United States of America. According to the<\/span> Jamaica Observer<\/span><\/a>, and following the meeting, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Finance have been \u201c<\/span>urging progress on taxing digital commerce to tackle debt<\/span><\/i>\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

To that end, CARICOM Ministers appear to be of the view that<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026the Commonwealth should bring its powerful collective voice to ongoing discussions at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), particularly on behalf of smaller states.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

International agreement on digital taxation could enable countries to benefit by taxing large tech giants, even if they do not operate within their jurisdictions.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Source: <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Jamaica Observer<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, it is not clear the extent to which the Commonwealth could be prepared to broach this issue, or to lobby on CARICOM\u2019s behalf. However, below are some initial thoughts and concerns are outlined.<\/span><\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0 Adding new taxes when collection\/compliance is poor<\/b><\/h3>\n

In the first instance, it ought to be acknowledged that the tax collection rate, and correspondingly tax compliance, in most Caribbean countries is low, especially with respect to personal (and to a lesser degree corporate) income tax and statutory deductions. Hence, as a means of increasing tax revenues, many countries across the region have introduced some kind of sales or value-added tax, payable by consumers on goods and services purchased in-country, and collected by vendors on the government\u2019s behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, although compliance by vendors \u2013 to remit the sales or value-added tax to government might be better \u2013 it does not obviate the fact that many Caribbean governments have not sought to address the low tax compliance that exists. However, they seem to be looking for additional taxes that can be introduced, instead of tackling the deficiencies in the current systems that they manage.<\/span><\/p>\n

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2.\u00a0 Provisions already exist for Imports to be taxed<\/b><\/h3>\n

In virtually all Caribbean countries, goods imported are subject to a broad range of taxes, levies and charges, regardless of how they are purchased. These taxes and charges may include import duties, consumption tax, sales tax, environmental levy\/tax, to name a few, and does not include the administrative\/processing and storage fees that might also be payable to Customs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to the popularity of US-based package and mail forwarding services that deliver goods into the Caribbean region, and so allow individuals to purchase an even broader range of goods from overseas, all of those imports are subject to the already and well-established import duties and charges framework. These taxes and duties are being paid directly by consumers in order to successfully clear their goods, and is revenue for the government.<\/span><\/p>\n

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3.\u00a0 Taxing services or other non-physical products likely to be intrusive<\/b><\/h3>\n

Although all imports can be taxed, the argument could be made that there is a large portion of online orders that so far, are escaping the government tax basket, such as services and non-physical products that do not need to be imported. Examples of these services and products include web hosting services, and online video streaming subscriptions that are purchased online.<\/span><\/p>\n

In governments being able to tax those products and services, questions with respect to privacy and the intrusiveness of the enquiries needed \u2013 in order to determine what was purchased, and thereafter whether it should be subject to taxes, and the rates payable \u2013 are likely to be raised. Further, in many instances, purchases are already subject to local sales taxes in the country where the vendor is located, and are paid by the purchaser. If Caribbean governments also intend to tax purchasers located in their country, essentially, purchasers may end up paying two sets of sales tax, although the vendors are not located in their home country.<\/span><\/p>\n

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4.\u00a0 Taxing overseas companies likely to create more problems than it solves<\/b><\/h3>\n

The solution reportedly mooted by CARICOM Finance Ministers to increase tax revenues was to tax the \u201c<\/span>large tech giants, even if they do not operate within their jurisdictions<\/span><\/i>\u201d. This posture seems similar to that of the Caribbean telecoms companies that have been lobbying for Caribbean governments to tax, or to introduce a system that would require the major over the top\u00a0 service providers (OTTs) to pay for access to consumers in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time of writing, the arguments for taxing OTTs has not gained much traction, and the Finance Ministers\u2019 proposal is similarly challenged; as:<\/span><\/p>\n