The Placencia BTIA is always looking for ways to provide its membership with information that will help with the smooth running of their business. Please check out these excerpts from the budget speech and budget this year that could be of interest to you.

Environment
Belize derives its economic sustenance from our environment. Proper management and sustainable use of our environment is therefore critical to long term economic growth. The government will strengthen framework and processes for environmental management including enforcement of environmental compliance.

In particular, great priority is given to solid waste management

Revenue Replacement Duty
As of the 1st of August, the remaining Revenue Replacement Duty will be removed from both Regular and Premium Gasoline, and on Aviation Spirits and Jet Fuel. This tax will be replaced by a lower flat tax per gallon which will be added to the existing customs duties applicable to these products. This will have the effect of stabilizing the taxes applied to these products and would also result in future changes in acquisition costs passing directly through to the price.

Revenue Measures to provide support to the Tourism Sector
The tourism sector has grown into the major source of employment, income generation and foreign exchange earnings for Belize. Accordingly, the industry has begun to make notable contributions to the development of small communities in the rural areas where poverty is highest. The potential for even greater strides is enormous, and that is why we keep saying that tourism is perhaps the major star to which we’ve hitched our wagon.

With the economic slowdown in North America, however, the industry is facing the difficult challenge of maintaining visitor arrival levels in the context of increasing competition from other destinations. It is therefore critical for the tourism industry to improve and maintain the quality of the services provided. The stakeholders in the industry are engaged in a process of strategic planning to meet the challenges which lie ahead and have already signaled the difficulty they are facing, particularly the smaller hoteliers, in undertaking the investments necessary to improve the quality of their facilities because of rising operational costs. Tourism operators have insistently pressed to review the structure of taxation of the industry. This is an especially complex matter and we have, therefore, agreed to continue the process of consultation. As an interim act of relief, though, and to assist the relatively large number of smaller tourism operators to deliver a better quality of service, government proposes the following revenue measures:

The provision of import duty exemptions on capital imports for small registered hoteliers seeking to expand and/or improve the quality of their facilities.
The provision of import duty exemptions on passenger vans to allow small tour operators to improve the quality of their tourist transportation services.

TAX RELIEF MEASURES
That increase in the basic income tax deduction for employed individuals earning less than $24,000 per annum, is from $19,600 to $23,600. This in effect would mean that all employed individuals earning less than $24,000 per annum would be exempt from tax, while those individuals earning more than $24,000 would continue to be eligible for the current basic deduction of $19,600. Further, this change will take effect retroactively for the tax basis year commencing 1st January 2010.