PLP: OBA’s Tax Plan Hurts Workers, Businesses
The PLP is today questioning “what impact the OBA’s unfair tax scheme will have on Bermuda’s businesses and workers.”
C#18 candidate David Burt said, “Once again the OBA has rushed out with a half baked, ill conceived, unfair scheme that will cause taxes to be raised on both workers and some small business owners.
“The OBA’s sloppy and unfair plan expects workers to bear the burden of payroll taxes while a select few of the OBA’s business friends get relief. That isn’t standing strong for Bermudians, that is standing ON Bermudians.”
Three days after Bob Richards criticised the PLP’s payroll tax relief; local business owners praised it and pressed for it to stay in place.
Speaking in an interview with local media Mr. Kevin Hill, owner of three small businesses, said, “My wish is to keep the payroll tax relief, which has helped us a lot. With that savings, it stopped us from laying off people. That’s money we have used to reinvest in the employees.”
Mr. Jay Riihiluoma said, “We replaced two large air conditioning units with the funds we had saved from payroll tax relief and now we’re able to save quite a bit on energy costs because the new systems are more efficient.”
Senator Burt noted, “Under the OBA’s misguided plan, both small business people like Mr. Riihiluoma and their employees would see their taxes raised if the business isn’t actively hiring. This would be a terrible idea and one that not only hurts workers, but, hurts Bermudian small business owners as well.”
Senator Burt concluded, “The PLP’s payroll tax relief helps both Bermudian small business owners and workers. The OBA’s brand of change increases taxes on some workers and would mean tax increases for some of our small Bermudian business owners. That’s misguided and unfair.”
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Speaking of half baked, how is Makai doing?
Lmao I love it!!
Standing strong for Bermudians?? Ok there Mrs. Paula (I’m just a cog in the wheel) Cox.
Only a select few people will get the benefits? Mercy, sounds like the plp is criticizing their own actions!
PLP’s plan is to plunder Bermuda, then leave.
They have plundered Bermuda to the bare bones for the past 5 years….
WOW Burt it right up there with the BIU. An incentive to hire an out of work Bermudian, works for the out of work Bermudian, ultimately they get a job and a salary and pay the normal level of tax, just as anyone else. Burt is bashing this policy, so he doesn’t want to see Bermudian get a job, or have a better roll of the dice to get a job….he must really hate Bermudians or want to keep them unemployed. Burt is hopeless, arrogant and WRONG. A vote for him is a vote against Bermudians and Bermuda. Nice going Burt.
OK, so accordinly to employers, he PLP’s policy is keeping people employed. But they are anti employment…
C’mon, come better.
Oh come on, we know how Burt cherry picks. We are not talking of a few business with an existing policy…. We are talking of an additional policy to get Bermudians back to work….you are obviously not unemployed at this present time are you!!!!!!!!
How do you know its ADDITIONAL? The OBA have never said that.
Ok well, earlier this year the Premier decided to raise import tax as “incentive” for people to buy Bermuda and not order from overseas. So if you raise import tax, and Bermuda imports…EVERYTHING, essentially you just made EVERYTHING on island more expensive and I can still get it cheaper with more options available from overseas. So wouldn’t it have been a better idea to give retail businesses a break on import tax so they could lower their outrageous prices giving a real incentive to buy Bermuda? You can keep the increase in import tax, just give the retail businesses a break. Now couple that with the idea the oba have put forward and what you will end up with is more revenue coming into the retail sector and more incentive to hire Bermudians with the payroll tax break as well, thus giving the business a better chance of survival and an incentive to employ Bermudians with the money saved from tax breaks. The oba’s idea is not unfair, if you don’t have a job you don’t pay the tax…you also don’t have a paycheck. What is unfair is living in an economy where you can’t get a job, thanks to the destructive policies put in place by the current leadership. When did unemployment start getting out of hand? Not too long after Col. Burch had a tantrum and threw his toys out of his crib. If its not broken, don’t fix it. But hey I only graduated high school so what do I know, right? The way I see it, there’s no way a group of people can be this clueless for this long, so that tells me they’re doing it on purpose.
@Come Correct
I have to ask you, do you really believe that most businesses prices have been very high because of the PLP? As far I as I remember, retailers have had their prices high long before this economic down turn took place. This is the main reason why people started shopping overseas. Personally, I do not feel sorry for some of these businesses who have been taking advantage of us for years. IF they weren’t smart enough when times were good to save, well that’s their problem.
I can say the same for people who took advantage of the housing market, charging very high rents for the past so many years. Many home owners I know have their apartments occupied because they decided not to charge outrageous rents, and people have been loyal to them.
The world has gotten real, so everyone needs to pull their socks up. This means, the public, Government ( I mean PLP, OBA, Independents) all need to get their act together for the sake of the country. I personally do not believe one party will solve this, we need smart people from all walks of life to play a part.
The OBA have said they will work in a bipartisan manner with colleagues accross the floor to get the job done…so that should help you with your voting decision.
@ Blurt,
To be honest, I still am not sure who I am voting for. The OBA have a (Pembroke West Central) pretty good candidate in my area, as well as an independent who is from the neighborhood. One thing I do know is in this election, I will be voting for a person, not a party.
which is how it is supposed to be. Another thing, how can government put taxes on some businesses and not others – confusing the hell out of me…
PLP rep was always knocking on my door last year -and when she did come, she listened, took notes and vanished. 2012 she must have lost her vision. This election she will be very disappointed.
@ Concerned,
Yes, some PLP people will be dissapointed, but such is life.
With regard to taxing some, and not others is complicated. We probably need more time to understand the impact of these policies.
Take a look at their motivation for running, acknowledgement of failure. Do they need to run for a salary, or do they want to run to help Bermudians and Bermuda. Will their policies and ideas fix the mess we are in. Remember you don’t live with the person you vote for, when they are at the door or on the stage, they just need to put on a good little show and impress you for 5 minutes. Invite them in and grill them on all the things you like and don’t like, do the answers just polish a poo or do they really appear genine. Doubleback and check answers , by saying something slightly different but with a bigger divide in meaning….see if their heart answers or if their flippancy takes over… Grill these politicians, make them squirm…this is their interview, not their parade.
@ Blurt,
I honestly do not know. I think some in the PLP, as well as the OBA & Independents really want to help Bermuda, but some have been clouded by false statements, and some have to tow party lines. I really think it’s time to get a new system. I want the best person for the job, no matter what party they belong too, or the color of their skin.
OK you got a few things wrong.
1) No one raised import taxes on Businesses! In the last budget duty on some items were CUT!
2) The PLP CUT payroll taxes in retail, which allowed businesses to be more competitive with their pricing. The PLP gave retail a break!
Please don’t believe everything that the OBA tells you. do the research for yourself.
@a Bermudian, I never said the plp was to blame for high prices, I remember as child going to NY and seeing a toy I saw in Bermuda for a third of the price, under a ubp government. I’m simply saying businesses need as much of a break as they can get so they can survive, no businesses means no jobs. By being able to lower their prices and still cover their massive overhead, people will have more incentive to buy Bermuda thus bringing in revenue for the business. Without businesses the consumer suffers, without consumers the businesses suffer. Its a cycle that requires participation and compromisation from both sides.
@Snake Oil, 1. I could be wrong, was it just couriers that the tax was increased applied to? I thought everything was raised to 25%. Still had little to none of the desired effect the Premier spoke of.
2. I never denied what the plp did, but is it enough? If you can give businesses an additional break with an incentive for hiring, how is it a bad thing? If people don’t have jobs they can’t buy goods and services.
For the record, the oba doesn’t tell me anything and I do a lot of research myself, I don’t trust average people so what makes you think I would trust politricks? They’ll promise you everything you want but nothing of what you need, just to retain power. People like democracy better than autocracy, truth is, democracy sucks too.
@ Come Correct,
Exactly my point. Sad to say, but many businesses in this island took advantage of the consumer for many years. I am trying to remember when did the consumer on this island get a break (maybe you remember)?
On the job side of things, it’s one thing to create a job, but the quality of the job must be considered. IT makes no sense creating jobs that do not keep up with the economic times. To many Bermudians wages have not risen with the cost of living, but businesses prices have.
That’s true, if there’s no sort of balance, this is the result you get. Nobody really thinks that far ahead. Greed is what’s destroying our world. What I dislike about the plp is how they like to point fingers at “elitists” when in actual fact they are no different. The biggest divide we have today is between rich and poor, this is disguised by using race and making it seem as if one has more than the other. If the middle class degrades to the lower class, welcome back to the plantation, the only differences is this time around they have to pay you(peanuts but still something) and it won’t be race restricted. The majority will suffer for the rich to get richer, and its not just here in Bermuda.
@ Come Correct,
I agree with you, can’t deny that. The only issue I have is the race topic. The reason race plays a major part in this discussion is because a group (White Bermudians) of Bermudians are percieved to have benefited from the past. I agree it is about the rich versus the poor, but the two issues are connected. I am not trying to have a history debate on this, but we all know policies were in place to hold people back, and sadly, some Bermudians have not be able to move forward. Whether it is drugs, lack of opportunity, lack of education, or in some instances the glass ceiling, many black Bermudians have not be able to move with the times. I will say this, some have failed to move forward by their own doing, but it is not the case for all.
Oba said nothing about stopping existing relief……. PLP trying to mislead you.
They said nothign about continuing it either, remember they said, “they can’t make any commitments” If they didn’t say they will continue it, why do you think they will?
Stretching it there a bit aren’t you….must be Mr Burt in disguise. The OBA didn’t say that we would have seven days in a week either.
Seriously David, gimme a break.
Although quite aloof, I would have thought Mr Burt, with his superior intelligence (but maybe no common sense) would have figured out this OBA employment incentive by now… considering it was covered off in detail in another thread.
Not paying attention, Mr Burt…?? You gotta read the blogs to stay on top of how Bermudians feel about this’n'that….
wow really how as PLP help business oh yeah they help them shout their doors wow really
Stop lying, David Burt. As you well know, the OBA has said NOTHING about ending the existing categories of payroll tax relief. This is an additional relief designed to encourage businesses to create jobs by lessening the tax burden of those jobs. The OBA’s plan Will actually take people out of the ranks of the unemployed, put money in their pockets and generate tax revenues for the Government. You may not have noticed, but the country could do with some additional revenues right now…….
Exactly, they’ve said nothing.
How do you know they will keep them in place if they haven’t said anything.
There you go again with your PLP nonsense. If they were going to stop it, they would say they were going to stop it. Now you are attacking people because they didn’t say something…..oh my, if it was never mentioned, then we must have nuclear capability and are going to invade the Artic circle. Stop manufacturing nonsense please. You are not an undecided voter, you are a PLP henchman
How do you know they won’t if they havent said anything?! Your question goes both ways. Simple solution, stop typing BS for a second, pick up a phone, call Bob (Marley) Richards and ask him. Maybe the oba “can’t make any promises” because nothing in life is certain besides death and “we had to decieve you” is already being used.
What I do know is that they criticised the releif given to the retail sector. If they criticised it, its safe to assume that they would get rid of it.
I’m in retail, so I’m watching this issue closely. The PLP have done a lot for retail, but i’m uncertain about the economy. If i’m not hiring i don’t want to loose my payroll tax.
Also, it costs money to hire people. Just because you aren’t paying payroll tax, you still have to pay salaries, social insurance, health insurance. So payroll tax for new hires assume people have money to hire people.
It doesn’t make sense and I don’t get how it helps!
It does make sense and EVERY LITTLE BIT helps. You just said yourself you don’t want to lose the payroll tax cut you have now.
Also they critisize futurecare and they want to scrap the EXISTING MODEL to come up with one that actually works, not scrap futurecare completely. So its never safe to ass/u/me.
Because they’re NOT THE PLP!!
David Burt needs to go take an economics class and a class on common sense at Bermuda College along with Chris Furbert. Maybe the college will give them a two for one deal. That means you both can take the course but only one of you will have to pay. If you want you can split that cost like your future care program and one of you will have to pay more than the other or you can do it the fair way and share the cost 50/50.
Oh, for god’s sake, if the PLP had the answers we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in. That is a fact.
Burt is fighting for his job; the man’s benefited greatly. He couldn’t write a budget for a hot dog stand.
Burt Is the Coggles intern. I think there was a nail protruding and you just hit it on its head joe.
Let’s face it! The OBA will have to become a bunch of custodians! Cause they will have so much mess to clean up after this government!
@Joe,
I know of Mr. Burt, and to be honest, he didn’t need politics to benefit in Bermuda. He attended Saltus, and was educated overseas.
I can’t speak on if he can write a budget or not, but I can tell you the man is no fool.
On the last note, being the PLP don’t have the answers, do the OBA have the answers, or are they just the other option?
Seems that some people lend creedence to comments made by David Burt because his vocabulary is better than most of his peers in the same manner of Paula Cox…few things in life are free and the PLP “tax cuts” that are constantly touted have come at the expense of increasing National Debt…..Bob Richards speaks of an incentive to hire unemployed Bermudians and ask the “out of work unemployed Bermudian” to pay their half of the cost…..hopefully the people of Bermuda will recognize that and opt to pay a small percentage in exchange for a job and better future for them and their children….
Burt is an ass. Period.
So the PLP want to keep giving everyone breaks blah blah blah….is this why we are in over a BILLION dollars in debt?
At what point are you (PLP) going to apoligize for your wreckless spending, notify the people that they will need to make sacrifices due to your lack of competence in book keeping, and finally and most importantly, TELL THE TRUTH about where all this money went?
You want a debat? Question 1) Where is OUR money?
Regardless of who gets in power, the ONLY way to get this island back on track is if we work together, make sacrifices (evenly across the board based on net worth/income etc), and TOGETHER come up with a plan to dig ourselves out of this hole the PLP kindly dug for us…
No Matter what, EVERY Bermudian should be prepared to make sacrifices in the upcoming years. YES it is unfair WE have to do this, but at the end of the day it is OUR island!
Personally I would be willing to accept a 10% income tax to help support MY country and the people here with me, as long as that 10% doesnt go towards the Political Pockets and last forever.
All one needs to do is stand at a point where you can see the Oleander and other boats that bring containers in and see how high the water mark is out of the water….. that is all you would need do to realize that things are not good in Bermuda. Business would have more than enough staff, the staff would have homes, their children would be receiving the education they deserve, the seniors would have part-time work as well as be able to afford what they need, the taxi drivers would have people who could afford their services, Dr’s offices would be filled again with patients, Grocery stores would not be waiting lengths of time for their products (Fresh, frozen and other, parents would be able to purchase Christmas items for their children and so on.. I believe the OBA will do their best for Bermuda.
Speaking of Bone-head ideas… Lets start with the Pension. How is that going to work out for ppl long term? It is clear the PLP have no idea, they attack with fabricated information to mislead us, they refuse to stand strong on thier record or discuss the important issues like Crime, Education and the National debt and they have not presented any type of plan. The PLP have access to the information they need. Bermuda is in for some really tough times over the next 5 to 10 years and a long struggle to get us out of the mess the govt has put us all in. I will not vote for the PLP, I want Bemuda to thrive. It is frustrating because I am sure the low road the PLP are taking is having an impact on the emotions of a lot of people and the way the boundries are setup favours the govt of the day. Sad, sad, sad…
Come on everyone – let’s have a mature discussion.
Payroll Tax is say 14% (I know it varies depending on total payroll costs but work with my example). Employee pays 5.25% and employer pays 8.75% – total 14%.
OBA says, give employer a break and let employee pay. Therefore government gets 5.25% but all from the employee. The theory continues that the employer will not have to pay the 8% and is therefore more likely to hire employees.
David Burt and BIU are saying that rather than let the employer pay nothing and the employee pay everything, the total amount paid could be 5.25% but the amount should be shared between the employee and the employer rather than the employer getting the full saving.
I will make the assumption that Burt and the BIU would have been ok if the employer amount was reduced from 8% to 5.25% and the employee reduced from 5.25% to zero. Either way the government still gets its 5.25% and revenues would grow.
Note that this discussion shows the difference between PLP and OBA. PLP will always give the employees the benefit of the doubt and OBA will always give businesses the benefit of doubt.
If we are practical, I am sure the final compromise is with both the employee and employer paying between zero and 5.25%. Government will be indifferent since it would get 5.25% under any solution. This is really simple when we take time to listen to each other!!
Wait a sec. If we take what you said as what Burt means then that means “new hires” would pay less in taxes than existing people, ie, all of the rest of us?? How is that fair?
Vote For Me, simple question, which will create more jobs, a smaller payroll tax cut for the business or a larger one? Do employees create jobs? No they benefit from HAVING A job! Businesses create jobs! I love the example that David Burt trots out. The business took the savings and replaced their Air Conditioners, which saves them money in energy costs and makes them more profitable. Did they create any new jobs? No! Just pocketing the savings. Under the OBA plan you reward a business that creates NEW JOBS for BERMUDIANS. No credit for hiring expats, just if you HIRE A BERMUDIAN. HOW is that a bad thing?
Oh, but the OBA will eliminate the existing program you say. But the OBA has NOT said that, the PLP has said that the OBA will do that. That’s the PLP putting words in the mouth of the other party. What if the OBA said the PLP was going to introduce Income Tax at 43% for all BIU members? Would that make it true? No you’d scream that the PLP said no such thing! Well…. ???
Actually by buying airconditioners they created jobs at the AC company…
Masters of smoke and mirrors… BEWARE Bermuda… something’s going on in the background!
life is what you make it $$$. suspend payroll taxes hurray say the employers. More money to spend on my business. SAME EMPLOYERS REFUSING TO PAY HEALTH OR PENSION DEDUCTIONS GARNISHED FROM EMPLOYEES WAGES. PUTTING THAT MONEY ALSO INTO THEIR BUSINESSES OR POCKETS. The worker suffers always. I would like to see what happens to that large list of none payment businesses after DEC 30. Lets see if the GOV. AGENCIES GOT BALLS TO STAND UP AND DO JUSTICE FOR THE WORKERS BEING FRAUDGINTLY SWINDLED BY THESE BUSINESSES!