Up to that point, the Ministry confirms that the Crystal Palace Casino at Cable Beach had $22.4 million outstanding, but the government later said that the settlement of outstanding taxes was a part of the Baha Mar development deal and Phil Ruffin’s sale of his hotels and casino to the group.
The $60.8 million figure quoted by the Ministry of Finance also includes the $19.4 million left unpaid by the operators of the Lucayan Beach Casino, which closed in Grand Bahama in the 1990’s.
The records also show that the casino at the now closed Royal Oasis Resort owes the government more than $13 million in outstanding casino taxes.
The Isle of Capri Casino at Our Lucaya Hotel, meanwhile, owed $5.7 million up to February, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The casino operator continues to face hard times, Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe indicated in his recent contribution to the 2005/2006 budget debate in the House of Assembly.
“Since the hurricanes of last September, the Isle of Capri Casino has been challenged by the slow return of the Westin and Sheraton Resorts and a sluggish period of recovery,” he said.
“That notwithstanding, the casino continues to operate, providing employment for Bahamians and entertainment for our visitors. We have met with the casino operators and we have begun dialogue on many concerns that they do have and hope to resolve those.”
The Gaming Board of The Bahamas will soon take over the responsibility of collecting casino taxes.
Chairman of the Gaming Board Kenyatta Gibson, while making his contribution to the recent debate in the House, took an unnamed licensee to task for alleged non-performance.
He said it will very shortly be called upon to justify why it should not pay certain penalties and forfeit its license because of non compliance with the Act.
In a recent interview with The Bahama Journal, Mr. Gibson said there is a comprehensive review of the tax regime for casinos in the country now taking place.
“That’s important now because we’re having different casinos on different properties on different islands and they all have their own unique characteristics,” he explained. “We want to make sure that a small casino, a European-style gaming room, for example, in Exuma, is being taxed on an equitable level with another casino, maybe a larger one with more space and a larger area.”
Even though Isle of Capri owes the government more than $5 million in casino taxes, Mr. Gibson said that it is a “good corporate citizen.”
“They are in good standing as far as the Gaming Board of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas is concerned,” Mr. Gibson said. “They too are negotiating at present an adjustment with regard to their tax obligation with the government and we’re very confident that all of this is going to end up very well.”
He pointed out that Isle of Capri “had a terrible hit” as a result of the September 2004 hurricanes.
“They have come to the government in earnest and we expect that we will be sitting down with them in short order and getting things straightened out,” Mr. Gibson said.
It’s not clear when Isle of Capri expects to see better times. The company late last week reported significant losses for the fiscal year and fourth quarter ending April 24, 2005.
In his interview with The Bahama Journal, Mr. Gibson also intimated that it was unrealistic to still be counting what was left unpaid by the operators of the Lucayan Beach Casino.
Up to February, Kerzner International only owed $33,000, which is considered a very small amount and could have been paid off by now as government officials have stressed that Kerzner has been an outstanding corporate citizen in all regards, including the payment of its taxes.
Mr. Gibson noted that casinos are “a very, very important part of our economy”, although most tourists who come here don’t come because of the gambling.
“I’ve made no secret of the fact that I would like to see gaming developed into an industry of its own,” he said. “I think it could provide tremendous benefits to an island that’s developing its tourism product and developing its own unique characteristics.”
He said the Gaming Board will be focused in its approach to collecting casino taxes.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
