GOV`T exploring all avenues to collect and protect its revenue –Tourism Minister
MINISTER of Tourism, Hon. Ralph Higgs says the Government is exploring all avenues to collect and protect its revenue.
Higgs made this comment during a brief exclusive interview with the Weekly News on Wednesday March 1.
Tax evasion and avoidance are problems which seem to have defied solution, and have bedeviled the Turks and Caicos tax system for many years; however, the new Tourism Minister says his administration is working assiduously to reverse this debilitating issue.
His sentiments come after owners of the Regent Grand recently voiced their concern about the long running tax evasion practice of some villas, condos and private homes in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The call for greater regulatory practices is one which has been made for a number of years, most recently last week by the Chamber of Commerce and the Hotel and Tourism Association when they met for the first time with the new Government.
Premier Sharlene Cartwright- Robinson at a press conference on Thursday (March 2) disclosed that her government has already sent legislation aimed at regulating these businesses to the attorney general's chambers for implementation over the next four years.
She said: "One bit of legislation that will be of interest to the people is the regulation of the RBOs.
" We want to do that from two standpoints and that is to make sure that we are not losing revenue and to make sure that the industry is regulated but also in the issue of national security because we want to know who is renting where and given the recent unsettling environment as it relates to crime we want to know where people are in this country and it is important to know where tourists are in these stand alone villas and heavily bushed, not well lit areas, we want to be able to protect our product and protect tourists who continue to rent under the RBOs.
"I don't want to give the impression that all of them are illegal or unregulated but it is an industry that has to be managed and managed better."
These establishments are accused of not paying their accommodation taxes to the Government and there is a call for them to be regularized as private rental properties.
A well-placed source at the Regent Grand resort in Grace Bay recently told this publication that there are American unit owners who have been engaged in the practice, and are undermining the hotel business in the country.
In a recent press statement, both the TCHTA and the Chamber, stated that an area identified was that of private home owners using platforms like Airbnb, Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) and other online sites to secure bookings.
This, they said is an emerging business which needs regulating as it can be a revenue source for the administration in the collection of taxes.
Currently there are several hundred rental properties in the TCI listed on these websites most of which are rented at exorbitant prices, with many of them not paying any taxes.
This is not a problem that plagues the TCI only, as many other Caribbean tourism destinations are affected by rise in online vacation home rental platforms.
The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association has since published a resource guide supporting the TCI's effort to level the playing field through the taxation and regulation of the sector and its engagement in public and private sector tourism development efforts.
According to industry news last year, the region's leading umbrella tourism private sector organization is counseling the Caribbean's 32 national hotel and tourism associations and governments to work together to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid rise of the online vacation home rental industry and other sharing economy businesses being fueled by hosting platform companies like Airbnb and Uber.
"Airbnb, in particular, recorded more than 25,000 listings in the Caribbean as of February 2016 and is projecting significant growth this year. Destinations such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Cancún, Martinique and Barbados feature the most listings on Airbnb with continued growth projected throughout the entire region."
CHTA president Karolin Troubetzkoy has noted that the sharing economy made possible by these hosting platforms is happening whether, whether it is embraced or not.
He pointed out: "This leaves us with two options: we can allow it to develop as an untaxed and under-regulated market and lose out on tremendous opportunities or we can bring all the players to the table to work out solutions to the benefit of all concerned parties."
Only last month ,the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the region's tourism development agency, and Airbnb, whose community marketplace provides access to millions of unique accommodations, signed a landmark agreement to develop a set of policy principles and recommendations on the sharing economy for Caribbean governments and other stakeholders.
Under the agreement, both organizations will share data and studies with policymakers about the positive impact of the sharing economy in the region; identify ways to make it more inclusive; and broaden the benefits of tourism to non-traditional actors, attract new stakeholders and focus on providing amazing and unique travel and cultural experiences to visitors.
This partnership agreement will also provide to the CTO an economic analysis of Airbnb's positive impact on local economies.
By reviewing Airbnb's aggregate data, key stakeholders will be briefed on the value of a peer-to-peer review mechanisms; at the same time Caribbean government officials and other stakeholders learn about the long term benefits of the sharing economy and home sharing in particular.
"The CTO is establishing a basis for mutual cooperation with Airbnb's. It is important for us to examine all aspects of this important segment of the sharing economy.
We believe that by clearly understanding Airbnb's massive influence in capturing consumers' interest in unique accommodations we will be in a position to properly advise our members and to allow the Caribbean to achieve the goals of year-round profitability, visitor satisfaction and sustainable tourism development," Mr. Riley said.
Currently, there are 41 thousand listings across the Caribbean and a typical host in the Caribbean earns approximately US$3,900 per year.
The agreement will also help to identify new ways to market the Caribbean as a region: One Sea, One Voice, One Caribbean and grow the tourism industry.
With this cooperation agreement, Airbnb will continue promoting tourism and highlighting Caribbean history and culture.
The strategy focuses on the diversification of the tourism industry and the expansion of the economic opportunities for the Caribbean people.
Deutsche Bank shares hit by cash call
Shares in Deutsche Bank closed 3.7% lower on news it plans to bolster its finances through selling new shares.
Germany's biggest bank plans to raise about 8bn euros (£6.9bn, $8.5bn) through the sale, due later this month.
The sale by the troubled bank is part of a wider shake-up.
Deutsche will also partially float its asset management business and retain Postbank - the retail banking business that it had been expected to sell.
The company will be reorganised around three divisions: private banking and wealth management; asset management; and corporate and investment banking.
The bank is trying to reshape itself after grappling with huge losses and a 15bn euro legal bill imposed by regulators since 2012.
In December, Deutsche Bank said it had agreed a $7.2bn (£5.9bn) payment to US authorities to settle an investigation into mortgage-backed securities.
The sale of residential mortgage-backed securities played a significant role in triggering the 2008 financial crisis.
Peter Hahn at the London Institute of Banking and Finance said it was the first capital raising from Deutsche since it had drawn a line under many of its legacy issues.
"The atmosphere for banks has got much more positive in the last several months," Mr Hahn told the BBC. Deutsche Bank shares have risen 44% in the last six months, for example.
Source-BBC
Vauxhall-Opel sold by GM to Peugeot-Citroen
The French company that owns Peugeot and Citroen has struck a 2.2bn euro (£1.9bn) deal to buy General Motors' European unit, including Vauxhall.
GM Europe has not made a profit since 1999 and the deal has raised fears about job losses at Vauxhall.
The UK factories at Ellesmere Port and Luton employ about 4,500 people.
With GM's Opel and Vauxhall operations, PSA Group would become the second largest carmaker in Europe, behind Volkswagen.
In a statement, Carlos Tavares, chairman of PSA's managing board, said: "We are confident that the Opel/Vauxhall turnaround will significantly accelerate with our support, while respecting the commitments made by GM to the Opel/Vauxhall employees."
PSA said it would return Opel and its Vauxhall brand to profit, and expected to make savings of £1.47bn per year by 2026, with most of the cuts made by 2020.
Source-BBC
Child porn case dropped to prevent FBI disclosure
US prosecutors have dropped a case against a man accused of using a child porn site because the government refused to divulge how it revealed his identity.
The Playpen site was located on the Tor network which is used to anonymise web-browsing activity.
The FBI found a way around this to reveal the users' real IP addresses and led to 200 prosecutions.
But it refused to reveal to the court how it managed the feat.
The site was located on the Tor network which many people use to browse the web anonymously. It conceals their location and identity by routing their connections through a chain of different computers and encrypting data in the process.
To get round this the FBI used what it called "network investigative techniques" and revealed people's identities.
But it refused a request for information on its technological investigation techniques.
Federal prosecutor Annette Hayes wrote in a court filing on Friday that "because the government remains unwilling to disclose certain discovery related to the FBI's deployment of a 'network investigative technique'" it was "deprived of the evidence needed to establish defendant Jay Michaud's guilt beyond reasonable doubt".
The government's Motion to Dismiss order is pending before the court and the judge is expected to sign a dismissal order "within the next day or two", the assistant public defender Colin Fieman told the BBC.
Ed Sheeran racks up massive UK album sales
Ed Sheeran's new album has become one of the fastest-selling releases ever in the UK, shifting 432,000 copies in just three days.
Sheeran's third album, titled ÷ (Divide), has become a monster hit since its release on Friday.
The all-time list for first-week sales has Adele's 25 and Oasis's Be Here Now at the top with 800,000 each.
If Sheeran doesn't quite match them, he could go third on that list, above Take That's Progress, which sold 518,601.
The album sold more copies in its first day (232,000) then any album did in a week in 2016. David Bowie's Blackstar had the highest one-week sales last year with 143,455.
All 16 tracks are due to enter the top 40 when the new singles chart is announced on Friday, according to the Official Charts Company.
Sheeran is on course to become the first artist to have all top four singles at once (1. Shape Of You, 2. Castle On The Hill, 3. Galway Girl, 4. Perfect.)
He is also on course to have three albums in the top five of the albums chart (1. ÷, 4. x, 5. +.)
Of the 432,000 sales, 63% were on CD and vinyl, 31% were downloads and 6% were "streaming equivalent sales" - an estimate of how streaming figures equate to sales.
÷ smashed the Spotify record for the most-streamed album in a single day - notching up 56.7 million streams on its day of release.
÷ is also expected to have the biggest first-week sales of the year so far in the US, according to Billboard.
Sheeran has said he wants to challenge Adele's album sales.
"Adele is the one person who's sold more records than me in the past 10 years," he told GQ.
Source-BBC
Trump signs new travel-ban directive
President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order placing a 90-day ban on people from six mainly Muslim nations.
Iraq - which was covered in the previous seven-nation order - has been removed from the new one after agreeing additional visa vetting measures.
The directive, which includes a 120-day ban on all refugees, takes effect on 16 March.
The previous order, which was blocked by a federal court, sparked confusion at airports and mass protests.
Presented as a means to strengthen national security against terror threats, it was blocked by the courts and effectively remains on hold.
The new order was unveiled by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Homeland Security John Kelly.
"The fact remains that we are not immune to terrorist threats and that our enemies often use our own freedoms and generosity against us," said Mr Kelly.
In justifying the refugee ban, Mr Sessions said there are more than 300 refugees under investigation for potential terror offences. But no further details were given.
Citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, the other six countries on the original 27 January order, will once more be subject to a 90-day travel ban.
Traveller from Guyana ingests 44 cocaine pellets before flight
A man travelling from Guyana was Saturday arrested at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston following the discovery of cocaine pellets in his body.
Reports are that about 2:25 pm, the man, who had just disembarked the flight, was observed acting in a manner that aroused the suspicion of the police.
The lawmen accosted the man, who they said admitted to having ingested cocaine pellets.
He was taken to hospital where he expelled forty-four pellets of cocaine weighing approximate one pound. The drug has an estimated street value of $598,000.
The accused, whose identity has not been released, is to be charged with possession of cocaine, dealing in cocaine and importation of cocaine.
END
GT woman charged with perverting the course of Justice in Kevino Smith`s murder probe
31 year-old Lavina Griffith of Grand Turk has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of Justice in the ongoing Kevino "Bah" Smith murder investigation.
According to a Police statement on (Friday 24th February), detectives of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force have formally charged and cautioned the woman.
Griffith who appeared in the Grand Turk Magistrate's Court on (Thursday March 2nd) pleaded not guilty to the charges laid before her.
Last month three Grand Turk women ages 19, 28 and 53 were re-arrested on suspicion charges.
However, the two other females who were previously arrested have been released from all bail obligations.
Prior to their arrest, 3 males on Grand Turk and Providenciales, ages 24, 25 and 31yrs were charged with the murder of Kevino Smith of Grand Turk.
The men appeared in court on February 3 where the matter was heard by Magistrate Tanya Lobban Jackson in Court 1 Providenciales where Krishna Penn, Conrad Thomas Jr and Lamar Griffiths were arraigned.
Penn is being represented by Laura Maroof; Oliver Smith is representing for 31-year old Lamar Griffiths and Smith served as attorney in lieu for Conrad Thomas Jr when his lawyer, Keith Thomas, could not appear on his behalf.
The men will appear in the Grand Turk Supreme Court for a sufficiency hearing on April 7.
It has been two years since 25-year-old Smith went missing after a reported heated confrontation
Kevino Smith was reported missing by his family on Friday 6th March 2015.
After continuous and extensive searches, his body was found on Thursday 16th April in the Breezy Brae area of Grand Turk by members of the community.
Young Smith's family, especially his mother Patsy Smith, have been highly critical of the handling of the investigation, regularly writing on social media, that her boy had been forgotten. Smith's dismembered remains were found in Breezy Brae, Grand Turk, in late April 2015 following an aggressive police search. And it was in July that police finally confirmed that the remains discovered were indeed that of young Smith.
Subsequent to the discovery of his body, several suspects have been arrested on suspicion and some are currently on bail for numerous offences which include murder, conspiracy to commit murder and perverting the course of justice.
The police, in a statement on their facebook page, said: "We are determined to establish what happened to Kevino and how he came to lose his life, which we hope will bring some closure and small comfort to his family.
TURKS AND CAICOS POST 5th CABINET MEETING STATEMENT
His Excellency the Governor, Dr John Freeman, chaired the 5th meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 1 March 2017, at the N J S Francis Building on Grand Turk.
All Ministers were present except the Hon. Minister of Home Affairs, Transportation and Communication.
At this meeting Cabinet:
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve a mutation and rectification and then a tender for applications for the commercial lease of combined Crown Land Parcels 60610/305 and 306 at Norway and Five Cays, Providenciales, in line with section 34 of the Crown Land Ordinance 2012;
· Approved a Provisional Warrant Resolution for forwarding to the next sitting of the House of Assembly for the withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund of an amount not exceeding $85,067,096 for the continuation of government business for the first four months of Financial Year 2017/18 pending passage and entry into force of an approved Appropriation Ordinance for 2017/18;
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to appoint the following as members of the International Finance Marketing and Promotions Working Group (IFMPWG), the body set up to advise the Minister of Finance, Trade and Investment on the strategic direction and promotion of the TCI financial services sector, for a period of 18 months with effect from 1 April 2017 – Mr Peter Savory (Corporate Management/Trust Administration); Mr Kenrick Walters (Banking); Mr Norman Hamilton (Insurance); Mr Clayton Been (Corporate Management/Trust Administration); Mr Mark Lindsay McCann (Trust Administration); Mr Jonathan Katan (Bar Association); Mr David Stewart (Trust/Financial Industry Association); Governor’s Office representative; FSC representative; AG’s Chamber’s representative; Ministry of Finance representative;
· Approved the renewal of the lease agreement for the Premier’s Official Residence on Grand Turk for a period of four years with effect from 1 March 2017;
· Discussed a paper prepared by the Ministry of Health, Agriculture and Human Services on ongoing management issues at the National Health Insurance Board;
· Agreed to extend the 2016/17 lobster season from 15 March to 31 March 2017;
· Noted the recommendations of the Public Procurement Board to award contracts in line with the Public Procurement Ordinance 2012 as follows – TR16/20 Upgrade and extension of the Providenciales morgue and equipment; TR16/33 Repairs to the Lands Division building, Grand Turk; TR16/34 Enhancement of the Standard Integrated Government Tax Administration System for the Revenue Department; TR16/40 Construction of a classroom block, Long Bay High School Phase III; TR16/48 Mental Health Home Phase III, Grand Turk; TR16/51 Replacement roof, Waterloo Phase II;
· Received an information paper from the Ministry of Home Affairs updating Cabinet on progress on emergency works at HM Prison to be discussed further at the next meeting of Cabinet;
· Received a briefing by the Hon. Attorney General on her attendance at the recent Financial Action Task Force Plenary Meeting at the OECD in Paris including steps required to be taken by TCI to meet its financial services related international commitments in relation to the Global Forum on the Exchange of Tax Information’s assessment of TCI set for the third quarter of 2017 and the CFTAF mutual evaluation of TCI which is set for the first quarter of 2018 and, in particular, commitments related to beneficial ownership
· Agreed adjustments to the Fiscal Strategic Policy Statement 2017/21 to be submitted to the UK Government to take account of planned revenue and expenditure related to the European Union grant provided to TCI under the European Development Fund (EDF) 11;
· Received a briefing by the Hon. Premier and HE the Deputy Governor on their recent attendance at the annual EU/Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) meeting in Aruba including on TCI assuming the Chair of the Overseas Countries and Territories Association and on the signing of the Financing Agreement of the EDF 11;
· Received a briefing by the Hon. Deputy Premier on his recent attendance at the twenty eighth inter-sessional meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Guyana including on regional security issues and correspondent banking.
SIPT judge calls in sick -trial delayed again
THE Special Investigation and Prosecution Trial (SIPT) has been pushed back even further as Justice Paul Harrison has reported sick.
On Monday, February 27, when the trial was set to resume after a three week break, the court was informed that the judge would not be attending, as he had fallen ill.
Harrison's absence will continue until March 20, when the trial will hopefully resume.
The 78-year-old Harrison has been the subject of much controversy due to his advanced age, when his appointment to the trial was first made in 2012, and as recent as 2015, when Misick filed an application with the court to have him removed. That application was unsuccessful.
However, while the judge's medical condition does raise questions yet again about is age and agility to preside over such a tedious and long running trial, his absence does stand one person in very good stead.
That person is Michael Misick, chief defendant.
The delay gives Misick additional time to bring his new lawyer – Reginald Armour - up to speed with the progress of the hearing over these last fifteen months.
As previously reported, Misick's senior counsel, Ralph Thorne, a Barbadian, abruptly resigned from the case on January 30, causing a sudden halt to the proceedings.
The former premier was granted the three-week recess, after Thorne's emailed resignation from the case, after he had failed to show up when the trial resumed on January 16, 2017.