What Concessions Did REDjet Receive?

George Hutson, Minister of International Business and International Transport

David Ellis who has become VOB’s goto moderator since the demise of Tony Marshall shared some interesting information today [26/3/2012] to his midday audience. On the subject of REDjet many Barbadians were under the impression REDjet was being treated like a stepchild compared to other airlines who are suspected of receiving subsidies from government. However Ellis received feedback from a source which suggested the following:

To date REDjet has received the following concessions amongst other exemptions and benefits:

• Exemption of corporation tax for 15 years
• No personal tax for its expatriate employees
• Waiver of import duties on aircraft spares
• Waiver of taxes on lease of aircraft
• No withholding tax on dividends or investment income
• No withholding taxes on interest from shareholder loans

BU has to thank our email correspondent [JD] who ensures BU remains informed on most issues.

Bear in mind REDjet has been carping about creating a level playing field and the like. What the REDjet experience has exposed is that there is too much wheeling and dealing under a cloak of secrecy. There is absolutely no reason why information about concessions – announced by Ellis – should not have been in the public domain. Here is another example which reinforces the call for the Freedom of Information Act to be enacted with haste. It is taxpayers money and benefits being distributed through its servant, the government of Barbados.

If there is a time for a new order of business to take root, the time is now.