Belize political activists copy the USA on tax incentives for new business!

THE TAX INCENTIVE PROGRAM OF BELIZE FOR NEW BUSINESS IS MEETING WITH PUBLIC SCRUTINY

The public on list serves and chat forums on the internet are questioning the government's policy of granting duty free exemptions for incoming machinery and plant, and including the TAX FREE HOLIDAYS given to new foreign and local enterprises. A big part of this whole encouragement was always based on producing a certain number of jobs in the small nation of Belize.

The sudden surge in the USA of municipalities and counties reneging on the tax breaks and other offers, including land for new company operations failing to provide the number of jobs they quoted, when they applied for the tax breaks and other concessions, has the educated public questioning Belize central government policy on this as well. Often the new enterprises do not provide the number of jobs they said they would and in the past nobody did anything about it. The new public scrutiny is going to make sure that new entrepreneurial businesses, seeking land, tax breaks and import custom duties exemptions, is going to be much harder in the near future. We in Belize are going to copy the trend in the USA. It looks like a political hot potato for the future of new industries seeking favors from government. Produce what you say you are going to produce, to the benefit of your profits and for the nation, particularly in jobs, or lose your exempt tax status and pay up. This is the new mantra for the economic activists interested in building the economy of Belize.