Crunching the B.T.L. Figures

For the latest news across Belize, visit: http://edition.channel5belize.com/ Opposition Leader John Briceño has written to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, requesting the results of the ongoing audit by the Department of General Sales Tax of B.T.L.’s financials. Briceño is also asking the P.M. for a copy of a letter purportedly sent by B.T.L. Chair Nestor Vasquez to Financial Secretary Joseph Waight seeking G.S.T. waiver due to unpaid taxes. Briceño’s letter comes after news broke that B.T.L. potentially owes tens of millions of dollars which it racked up in G.S.T. and business tax. But both B.T.L. and the G.S.T. say the telecom giant is tax complaint. On Wednesday, the P.U.P. came out swinging at B.T.L. and the government for the purported underreporting of revenues. During a press conference, P.U.P.’s Shadow Minister Responsible for Communications and Public Utilities, Kareem Musa, used B.T.L.’s figure for the period 2017/2018 to demonstrate what may be the difference in B.T.L.’s reporting on G.S.T. and business tax.