A few ideas to help Barbados recovery:

1. Introduce a tax of 1% on all remittances to Barbados by non dom residents - it is unfair that the income tax burden is shared by few, whilst those that live here but are not domiciled and dont have any income arising here pay no tax.  Estimated 3,000 non working expats live here and bring in hundreds of millions of dollars a year to support themselves but pay no income tax.  I dont think it would be enough of an imposition to make people choose to leave.

2. Stimulating FDI - appoint an FDI tsar tasked with finding new businesses around the world to locate here.  It is too important a task to leave to the individual ministers and their staff. FDI is our lifeblood as we always run a deficit on current account of B of P

3. Renewables - tie into the international solar alliance.  We have to save the $800m a year spent on deisel and whilst renewables require a lot of capex, countries like India and France who pioneered the ISA may be willing to fund the capex.

4. Scrap the incentives acts (which the IMF dont like anyway) and replace them with a Corporation Tax of 1% on all foreign currency related profits so that tourism businesses get the tax breaks but have to bring all earnings to Barbados. Sandals are not being truthful when they say we live in a world where hotels get incentives everywhere.  They would not get them in London or New York.  This needs to a pan Caribbean negotiated position, though.

5. Kudos to the government for taxing the airbnb phenomenon.  Find a techie to monitor any abuses.

Submitted by Terry Hanton