Treasury owed $16.5M
(CNS): The Cayman Islands government was owed more than CI$16.5 million in uncollected debt at the end of 2012, a freedom of information request has revealed. The massive hole in the public purse ranges from more than $250,000 on more than 280 bad cheques to $1.7 million on 698 uncollected garbage fees. The heftiest debt of all, however, is some $12 million owed to government for overseas medical expenses. The open records request made by a CNS reader shows that during November the Treasury recovered just over $94,000 and then in December just under $83,000. However, more new debts were added worth $109,745 in November and a further $79,800 in December.
The 1,495 debts on unpaid fees to government run across the board, from cruise passenger and travel tax to loans issued by various government departments. The FOI request did not state the length of time any of the specific single debts had been outstanding but with the apparent increase in cash owed to the government coffers exceeding the small amounts government seems able to collect each month, the debt appears to be a significant problem.
According to the Debt Recovery Unit, however, no new bad debt cases have been referred to the legal department since April, despite the obvious conclusion that the Treasury has been owed some of this cash for a long time.
The debt owed to government represents around 3% of its annual operating revenue.
Category: FOI
They need to stop paying 25-50,000 $ a pop for these fat a$$ civil servants to go overseas and get these so called "weight loss" surgeries.. these are ELECTIVE surgeries and the GIG pays for them..and 95% of the people who get them are right back to stuffing their faces with food the minute they can eat normally again..WASTE OF MONEY..get off your fat, lazy a$$, go for a walk and stop stuffing Yo face..I know of 10 people, INCLUDING BIG MAC, who have had this same surgery..ALL PAID FOR by you and Me!!
Whoa tell me you are freaking kidding me, government insurance covers gastric bypass??????? No way no no no I refuse to believe they have a deal that is covered by an insurance carrier for elective surgery…OMG now I have heard everything…okay I’m holding 6 votes in GT and my hubby holds six come on politicians mommy wants a facelift!!! Holy cow can we pay instead for them to have their jaws wired shut? They lose weight and we don’t have to hear them speak a win win situation!!
Whoa tell me you are freaking kidding me, government insurance covers gastric bypass???????
I wish I were kidding…Yep..CINICO covers Gastric bypass, lap band, and all those other weight loss surgeries..they don't view it as "elective" if your referring doctor says you are "morbidly obese". Sad part is, some of these people are only 20-30 lbs overweight and could easily lose the weight if they would see a personal trainer and eat right..but all one has to do watch the amount of styrofoam containers that go INTO the GOAB and other government offices everyday, sometimes the same person gets two or three deliveries a day..in fact I KNOW of persons who joined CIG specifically to get free weight loss surgery and fully intend to quit the moment it gets done…
I just can’t get my head around the fact I have to pay for their insurance because they don’t have to contribute and because they are lazy and eat non-stop they get what is deemed by any sensible person or health insurance company elective surgery!
That’s it I want my face lift darn it it’s medically necessary because the smile I have to plaster on my face every time I have to deal with one of these idiots because if I don’t they will make sure there is suddenly a new policy to prevent me accomplishing things is giving me a nervous tic
omg I am going to make sure at least12 votes come May are placed where I can personally track down the elected and hold them accountable. Can’t do that with the current mob because you can’t ever find them they are too busy racing to see who travels the most.
Come on seriously government workers you need to help pay for your health insurance end of story then maybe you might start taking care of your health…geesh
Govt need to advertise bad checks like gas stations around here! They need to confirm that these checks has $$$ in there checking account before closing the deals!!!!
Braca
Here's how bad the CIG is at collecting. Several years ago, as visitors but long time home owners, we had to make a trip to th ER. After waiting for 3 hours for service, we left and went to a doctor's office we had previously used. Got treated immediately. THREE YEARS later we got a bill for $25CI for services rendered at the hospital. Needless to say, we did not pay.
You gotta love the "payroll overpayment" line item of $5,500 – seriously, WTH?
My garbage has not been collected for 10 days. It was also 10 days between the last pick up and the one before that. Please print the list of companies/condos who have not paid their taxes so that I can take my garbage and leave it at their place.
Thank you.
Angry Caymanian who pays her bills.
Did anyone wonder how much of those medical expenses were for elective procedures? Speaking from knowing.
I haven't trawled through all the comments – so this may be a repeat: Government is without a doubt bad at collecting – but is as bad, or perhaps worse, at billing (in certain departments). A few years ago I suddenly got a bill from the Health Services for a bill uncovered by insurance – which had been incurred years before. The past due notice was the first notification I had received on the item (and which I immediately settled once I was made aware of it). I cant be alone in this experience….
You aren't alone. Whilst I think thatpeople should pay their bills, or be sued, I have been sent a threatening final notice for a hospital visit which the hospital had not submitted to my health insurance provider. No initial notice, no bill, just a final demand. They came to my room immediately after a procedure and got me to sign the papers and then did not submit them. It doesn't help their reputation at all, especially when it took 6 months for them to contact me.
It will also be interesting to know how much is owed to land oweners by Government for property taken to build roads and cannot be settled.
don't worry we can always raise work permit fees again……..zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Most of that Overseas Medical bill is cause by elderly people who has since been deceased for years and their family members are left to pay the bill. The family members do not think its right to hold them hostage for their loved ones debt., hence the reason why most of the monies owed is still unpaid. It is my understanding that the garbage fees, were no longer collected from individual houses, but condos, businesses, hotel etc etc. If this is the case, I am still receiving$100 billing for my house in West Bay and its not a high end house, either. One other thing this request was for what CIG is owed, what does CIG owe to companies and people? I also understand that school fees are no longer collected, I ask the question, why? and….How much is spent daily on the 9,000 persons that are receiving help from Social Services?
An elderly man I know who is unemployed and Caymanian. He cant hardly walk. and he gets weekly vouchers for less than a hundred dollars to feed himself. He lives in an abandoned house and his family is overseas. Yet I cant understand how there are elderly folk here that have more support than this man and they have supportive family here. There needs to be investigation in matters like this
Where is his family and why are they not helping to take care of him? Why is government expected to fill the gaps for irresponsible people?
I guess people don't want to pay their parents debts but they do want to inherit their assets!
The very old debts need to be written off though but no one wants to do it because it will be an expense at that point. In the same way, no one wants to bite the bullet and take people to court. Perhaps a debt collector should be appointed?
Unpaid debts to the Government should debar a voter.
You're crazy!
No renewal of your business licence unless you have paid all your taxes – it's simple really. Publish the names too. I won't go to any business that doesn't pay it's bills.
the good ole civil service……. masters of incompetency…..
Dont lump together the loyal services of the soldiers from the lazy complacency of management that everyone abhors.
soldiers my a$$….
Publish the list of the names of each debtor and the amount each debtor owes.
Why pussyfoot around?
This should all be public information
There are three arms responsible for this:
1) An entitlement attitude of residents who choose not to pay for certain services in lieu of driving a fancy car, expensive clothing, and their social life.
2) Lack of political will to collect. Endemic in my opinion
3) Lack of will of government employees to collect from friends and relatives.
I agree with exercising full collection authority- via garnishing wages, involving banks, and impacting credit ratings of those who are deliquent.
On all except the medical bills which one poster correctly stated- lets don't be like the US where the number one cause of home foreclosure is medical bills. Implement an income tax to cover the medical debt.
However, the remainder of the unpaid services (outside of Medical) should be collected full stop, for the greater good of the residents of the Cayman Islands.
Let's see if any one has the political will to campaign on this topic leading up to the elections.
This fact of uncollected payments is even more alarming when I read that the OECD ranks us as 11th position on the per capita income index with an average income of over $50,000. The collective we should be able to pay our bills (outside of Medical).
Others will argue that the cost of living is too high, however I will maintain that living within your means is a responsibility each of has, and not be concerned what others have amassed inmaterial things.
Statistics are really popular because they can be quoted to support whatever side of an argument one is on. And they can "alarm" people to rally against whatever cause is being supported by the statistics. You have introduced a good case in point!
I shall counter with some interesting statistical food for thought: according to our Economics & Statistics Office, over 27% of the population earns less than $20,000 per year, with over 1/3 of those low earners reported as earning less than $10,000 per year. So, I shall raise the alarm that the poor impoverished souls that make up a statistically significant portion of our population may well be the majority of those who simply cannot afford to pay those bills. I shall moreover proffer that these poor souls are very likely too preoccupied simply putting food on the table and surviving to "be concerned what others have amassed in material things".
May I ask why you excluded "medical" from those bills that you deem should be paid by the collective "we"? If you truly believe that "we" are all responsible for living within our means, then surely it must follow that one must pay ones medical bills and, therefore, if one is stricken by a catastrophic illness and one cannot afford proper medical care then it is this one's "responsibility" to die (gracefully if possible, of course).
In case the distress caused by your reading the "alarming" news of the uncollected debts in the face of the opulent average annual income reported by the tax-grubbing fiends of the OECD caused you to miss a salient statistical tidbit, I shall take this opportunity to do the calculations for you: almost 3/4 of the $16.5 million in uncollected debt (72.72% to be a bit more exact) is related to…(taa daa!)…uncollected medical expenses!
Medical expenses (which you explicitly excluded from the list of bills which the collective "we" should be expected to pay) are the most "alarming" portion of the unpaid debts. No? So, you see, you have no reason for alarm now! Relax, take a deep breath, pour yourself a drink, and be glad for the fact that you are not among the 7% of the population earning less than $800 per month.
[Please do not take the foregoing any more seriously than I take statistics taken out of context. Hopefully, now you see why you should never become too alarmed by – nor enamoured with – "statistics".]
Way back in about 2001 I was part of a delegation in front of a bunch of MLA's to tell them why their latest crazy idea to solve their deficit wouldnt work. They surmised that .0001 percent of the amount said to be in Cayman equalled the deficit, so make the banks pay a tax of that amount each year. stupidly, I told them the truth, (all the others kept quiet, a lesson in that!) the truth is that the only reason those vast balances are there is because New York announced just such a tax in the 60's, and just as that signalled the birth of your finance industry, so it would cause its death, quickly.
They didnt like hearing this because the only thing they wanted to hear was a yes, second lesson!
Later that day I called the only MLA that seemed to understand and suggested that the only real solution was a levy (tax?) on incomes because it was certain, collectable, and reasonable, it could be called a social charge to pay for the deficit on health services. He thanked me and said what a good idea that was and he would recommend it. Next day the headline was, minister vows we will never have taxation of any kind, same man I had spoken to but in the meantime he had been slapped down by his boss, yes the boss was McK!
Third lesson, theres none so blind as those that will not see!
Fourth lesson, if you dont account for it, nobody spots it and you can ignore it! If the auditor spots it you can delay his reports for years and maybe just ot reappoint him.
I doubt they're owed that much due to slack accounting. I paid off my garbage collection fees totalling $1400. A few months later they send me another garbage collection for the exact same residence for over $900. If it happened to me I'm sure I'm not the only one, and the rest are just ignored their so called 'bills' from treasury, just like I am.
I am sure this recovery can be contracted out to a local law firm who can be suitably incentivised to ensure better recovery rates than the public sector can achieve.
We thought that we we not to pay garbage fees anymore?
Yeah what happened with that?
You mean you belived that? Whats wrong with you?
No individual households are billed any more, condos and businesses are.
so how come i got a bill for garbage collection for jan 2013 to june 2013???
Just goes to show you should never listen to or believe Mac and the UDP
Write it off !! The vast majority of the medical bills will not be paid. Ignoring any moral issues for those who owe the money, they will almost certainly NEVER be able to find the necessary funds, and I speak from personal experience. In the space of two years, including a life threatening situation, my family incurred medical expenses at hospitals in Miami totaling close to US$350,000..00 . Thankfully, we had sufficient Medical Insurance. Absent that coverage, I would have been financially ruined.
Ignoring any vote buying aspects of Government turning a “blind eye” to personal debts for medical, or indeed education “loans”, clearly there is an issue of how government deals with the cost of medical treatment for people with no insurance cover. They cannot simply be ignored, and CINICO is not sufficient to cover the cost of overseas treatment of major medical procedures.
For some years the Turtle Farm has been subsidized to the extent of CI$8 MILLION PER ANNUM. In one year, Mr Bush distributed CI$4 MILLION to churches, from his “Nation Building Fund”.
What is more important – entertaining tourists at a facility which is a financial “Black Hole” / extending church buildings, or, providing a self insurance fund to cover the medical expenses of people who cannot obtain or afford, medical insurance.
Divert the “wasted” funds, and ensure that there are proper controls and balances for approving payment of both local and overseas medical bills.
There is a serious issue with health insurance on this Island and I hope that the powers that be will do something about it. If I had to stop working right now I would have to find $2000-$4000 a month, and as it is right now I am having to pay over a $1000 a month, something has got to be done about this!
In a perfect World, a one half of one per cent payroll tax would probably be more than sufficient to fund a National Medical Insurance Fund, and the percentage could be on a “diminishing” percentage scale for those in the very high income brackets – just because you earn hundreds of thousands a year does not mean that you are taken sick any more frequently than the ordinary man in the street. Or, like the Pension contributions, there could be a cap on the maximum salary on which the tax was calculated. The problem would be the monitoring of deductions by small businesses who would not normally maintain any sort of accounting records – but, as Government has a database of the Trade and Business Licences issued – it should not be an insurmountable problem.
Any tax which costs the country (especially via the civil service) to monitor and collect is not worth it. Payroll tax and VAT would be a nightmare to oversee and will be like the hotel room tax, head tax and household garbage fees, where only the honest people pay.
Many of these people will have assets to pay for their underinsurance and those of us with adequate insurance should not have to suffer for that. Pursue, sue, bankrupt if necessary.
Are you living on another planet? What you seem to be saying is that for those who cannot afford the high cost of insurance should lose everything they have! This is someone’s life and until government sort out this health insurance mess they have created then they should continue to help fund medical expenses. But how dare you say that someone should be bankrupt just because they are trying to save their life! I know people who have retired, and not because they really wanted too, who are in a huge problem trying to get re-covered, the cost is almost $50,000 a year, they can’t afford that, so if something was to happen they shouldn’t have to go bankrupt, they have worked hard all their life and now they can’t even enjoy retirement, it is absolutely outrageous!
Better to cut back and pay medical premiums than have an accident in North America and be bankrupt as a result. If you think for one minute you could have treatment in the States after an incident there and not pay for it, you are mistaken. Why should the Cayman public pay for people who don't have medical insurance?
Where is the police "hi tech" van? Reimburse "Tempura". Helicopter? Sell it and pay to upgrade holdong cells in WB and GT. More Cops from Merseyside? I am so confused. A new recruit in their 50's? from overseas? This is like" Alice in Wonderland". I miss Desmond Seales. He would have sorted this whole mess out by now.
How? By starting another Operation Tempura?
He’d have kept an eye out for the culprits.
…of which he was the chief.
No wonder government is broke! Those high in government really need to ensure that we collect all this money. After all, given the state of the economy, we can't say that we can do without it.
HOW – the easy comment of a simpleton !!
We the public keep getting screwed for that governments mistakes. We have been paying. Garbage collection. Lack of govermrnt funding. You know what? Screw you people. The price we all pay to live here. Caymanians and axpats and you can’t get your shit together. Your running this place into the ground
Good start, now go back and ask them how much they owe. Only then will you start to get a genuine understanding of the real picture.
it just proof that civil servants are not doing their jobs! they spend too much time bury their heads in sand while playing blackberry.
There is an old phase, the buck stops at the top. For the past few years Ex-Premier Bush led this country into near bankruptcy. This article supports just how useless he was. How on earth could he have ever been the Minister of Finance. He sat on a board of directors whose bank went into compulsory liquidation. Whilst directors of hedge funds have been pillarized, this man got away scott free. Trading whilst insolvent is wrong and that is precisely what the bank did. How come no one ever went after the directors.
Please please do not ever elect this man back into the house. He is an unmitigating disaster.
Isn’t trading whilst insolvent a criminal offence? If true, does the Attorney General know about this?
I thought Big Mac said that the carbage fees were abolished when his government raised the import duty from 20% to 22% so now after all these years they say we must pay this is rubbish like the carbage and the government
Household garbage fees were abolished. Businesses and condos still have to pay.
"The heftiest debt of all, however, is some $12 million owed to government for overseas medical expenses" This is where the world has gone upside down. When it comes to medicine and health care, these things in my opinion should be universally free of charge. I recall an incident in Jamaica where an elderly woman broke her two legs and could not walk. She needed to have both her legs pin to help the healing process, she had to be treated for blood clot, and medications for severe pain. The doctors were cruel. They refuse her medical treatment because the family had no money. You could easily say that they had to be cruel because why should you work and get nothing back in return. Still that is not the point. You are encouraging a cold and cruel system against not only the elderly but children. Just because debts are not paid and people are not fortunate like you, does not mean you look down on them with disgust. I recall how the table has turn so many times in life and thank the God Lord that I have learnt what karma is. These people had nothing to replace the demands of thousands upon thousands of dollars to treat their grandmother from untold suffering. The church and community could not raise sufficient funds. Instead we are taught by society to look the other way and say the hell with these people if they don't have the money. But let's say that it was "you" relying on government for medical help that if not received you could die. You see don't know. It is easy to condemn and make health and wellbeing into a money thing – it is not! It is a universal right. The Preamble to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) constitution declares that it is one of the fundamental rights of every human being to enjoy "the highest attainable standard of health". Inherent in the right to health is the right to the underlying conditions of health as well as Medical Care. One of America's favorite Presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt before he died, advocated a right to Medical Care in his 1944 proposal for a Second Bill of Rights. Cayman we have to get with the times. We have to have more social reforms made. I don't believe in running away banks and imposing taxes that will destroy our financial industry, but perhaps we do need a community tax, a tax directly for medical care. Then we can say that the 12 million from the 16 million is taken care of.
Reforms? Of course you can have them and include a health system free to all, easily done because the template is there in other countries. Now, if thats what you want you have to embrace anoither reform, income tax! Thats what pays for it and that never gets a vote in Cayman! You need to get real, nothing comes for free!
What you want is a national health service. Which could only be afforded with direct taxation on the main working population. Oh and a Government with integrity who handles the money carefully. Your call.
Was Mike Ryan's outstanding $6million in there?
Nope, the UDP counted that as "income" in the year that the duty was deferred. The next government will have to write it off as an expense.
And I’m sure the figure for overseas medical expenses does not include what government has paid out in this area for indigents. This is the result of an inadequate standard health insurance policy and people not making proper health insurance a priority – some prefer to pay the hig cost of insurance for an expensive car and expect government to come to the rescue when their life is in danger.
Exactly, a huge problem is when people aren't sensible with their spending and then expect Government (ie: us by way of our tax money) to rescue them. I am sick of people running around in fancy cars, always eating out, kids have Crackberry's when they are 10 years old and yet the parents haven't prepared for an unexpected expense. Before I get "trolled", I am not talking about families who truly struggle to get and pay for medical insurance, or people who had insurance which didn't cover all sorts of things.
So why dey nah collect?
Seriously? 1.75 million in garbage fees? Please give us a list of these offenders so that we can boycott these businesses. If it is condo developments, I'm sure most owners would want to know why their strata hasn't paid this to government.
OK CIG, make the list public of who exactly owes this money, just like private businesses do and publicly shame these people. Why should the rest of us pay our bills and these people don't?
I wonder who owes all that travel tax?
Govt downfall should be on the people expenses? You all need to fired! !!
Braca
The Caymangovernment's attitude to public money is unbelievable. It's just waste and incompetence from start to finish. They can't even be bothered to collect the money before they spend it! You can bet some of those that owe money are also owed personal favours by the people in power, hence why they're not being chased for payment.
I can't wait to see how this blamed on Expats…
For years we have skipped out on our medical bills and allowed the Govt to pick up the tab. It is shameful. It is also shameful that we have been taught to go to GT Hosp for a sniffle or a headache instead of a local doctor. Wake up, this is NOT Cuba and the socialized medicine needs to stop.
The entitlement factor needs to end with this generation and we only have politicians and CS to blame. Can't you see their job security was based on keeping us reliant on Govt.? (If you NEED Govt then you elect them. Stop relying on false promises and stand on your own two feet. Demand better education and kill this cycle of greed and waste.)
Time to stand on our own two feet and be the people we so proudly say we are….hard working and proud. Taking handouts from the hospital is not proud, it is sad.
Most people cannot afford the high cost of healthcare, try and understand that! The health insurance situation on this island is a disgrace!
If one can't afford "sickcare", then it is time to invest in your health.
They can afford other sh!t tho'
Anyone who is employed legally has to have health insurance, their employer is responsible for that and must pay 50% of the premium. What many people do not realise is that the employer is also responsible for any medical cost incurred whilst they are employed without insurance.
Most of it is overseas medical, and really, what is the government to do? If the expenses arent insured and the patient doesnt have the money, then this is essentially a government program expenditure. Im fine with that personally.
How about enforce the health insurance law? And by the way, if someone or their dependent is not insured as required, their employer is liable for many uninsured medical expenses.
Exactly. Go after the employer at the time of the medical treatment (if there was one) as well as the patient.
I am NOT fine with paying other peoples medical bills when they didn't prioritise their spending. I pay for my own health insurance and it costs a fortune. I don't intend to be bankrupt or help the country to become bankrupt by not having health insurance.
When will you people understand that the majority of ppl cannot afford to pay out a quarter or half their salary in health insurance, it has nothing to do with prioritizing, it has come to the point where ppl are having to sacrifice one necessity for another, like feeding their family and keeping the electricity on or pay health costs and all UDP have done is put more expens on us, when will this madness stop!!
Oh, so if a person cannot afford to pay astronomical sums for adequate insurance it is because they do not "prioritise" their spending? Ohhh…my…goddd! So, Smugness, should you become among those unable to pay for adequate coverage: what then?
Does your aim to not "intend" to become bankrupt make you somehow special, Smugness? (As if the majority of those who do become bankrupt due to catastrophic illness was something they intended and planned to do?) What sanctimonious rubbish!
Well perhaps the "collections" department is something Mr Manderson should look into first. This is truly pathetic. So I guess we the public, and the companies that do business here, are the ones who see the cost of living and fees rising again to pay for the governments complete and utter incompetence?
Since a lot more detailed information is available nowadays, I would be interested to see what each of the declared candidates running for office are planning to do to resolve a specific problem, such as this one set out in the article. Not the typical wishy washy generalization of reduce cost of living and minimize crime bla bla.
Please – how do you plan on collecting the USD 12 mil owed to Government in regards to oversea medical expenses?
It would be far more interesting to see how much of this unpaid debt is owed by each of the declared candidates.
Ironic that they call the reports "Managed Debt Reports" when apparently they can't manage debts at all, let alone the running of the CS itself. Impressive… not!
"Mis-managed debt reports" more like. Although, I'm sure that certain people are exempted by those higher up who likely tell an employee not to chase them.
Garbage collection bills ae sent out for services. Why do you have to pay for premises that are unoccupied for years and no garbage collected.
Which is why it should be linked to your cuc bill.
Because the services are still being given, it's just that you are not taking advantage of them.
How about directing your ire at all those people and businesses who don't pay their bills?
Because unpaid bills for services are merely a worldwide phenomenon and the GIG employs and pays people to collect those fees… and they’re clearly not doing their jobs properly. Because this represents a HUGE slice of the national debt which is crippling Cayman now, and WE are the ones paying the price. If people can get away with things like this so easily (not paying fees) then they will continue to do it and the problem will increase as others join them on the freebie ride, e?specially in the current financial climate. But even looking at it your way I still direct my “ire” at CIG. Because add to this the total of their outstanding bills and we have another story. And its not as. if we don’t pay them enough to pay the bills is it? Yet they so love to waste and spend it.
lets name and shame. It's just another kind of theft, except it's stealing from all of us.
Got it, that’s how the accounts are balanced
No, it is not due completely incompetance (which is part of the problem).
Another part of the problem is corruption. The government is told by powerful politicians to accept cheques from certain well connected persons who consitently submit cheques that will always bounce.
The elephants in the room are both incompetance and corruption.
You can look at the collections department all you want but the problem lies with the politicians! It is my understanding that the civil servants is doing their job and try to collect debt but the people run to the politicians who instruct Treasury not to take the people to court.
Do a civil servant clerk have the authority to ignore instructions and pursue action in court? No! but when the debt is not collected, the collections department is who gets the blame. Unna don't know what be going on in government but everybody know how to fix it until they get in government then they realise what going on.
Unfortunately, this person is absolutely correct, there are certainly people who will call their MLA's or anyone they know in government to help get the bill waived but there are also civil servants who won't collect fees from people who tell them they won't pay as they can't afford it.
You can't get blood from a stone but can you restrict medical treatment because the person can't pay? I don't envy that employee the decision. Would you want the job?
1 million thumbs up. Exactly the problem. McKeeva a big part of it. Remember Michael Ryan and Ritz Carlton. What irks me is that a lot of Tourism properties collect their 10% but I wonder how much really goes to government.
You can guarantee that half of Dart's won't go to Govt. thanks to Mac! But seriously, any honour tax will only be paid by those of us who are honourable. Any tax that takes a lot of time to audit and chase after is not cost effective. There has to be another way.
I feel for you that can’t be easy. There’s no denying that this goes on. But the politicians are in breach of their lawful public duties and such actions should be reported and not go unpunished. There are enough CS to stop this if properly organised. I am sure they would get full public support. After all, we don’t pay you guys so that you end up being hindered and obstructed jmfrom doing your jobs and we don’t pay the politician’s to screw us (and you) over like this. Properly organised, theres enough of you in the CS to put a stop to this and expose these politicians and bad practice in the CIG in the future. As long as you let them get away with it, the more they will abuse it….. and you, and the public purse, and everyone. You should perhaps.suggest when asked to do this that the politician pays the bill (from their own pocket of course) if they want any procedure dropped.
Good to see someone putting the truth out there, hopefully we'll get some investigative journalism going, ask who directed the Treasury not to pursue any outstanding debts through the court effectively rendering them impotent.
Now all they can do is call and say "please, pretty please, can you come and pay the bill", if they person then says "screw you" all the staff member can say is "thank you very much, have a nice day".
A very qualified Caymanian recently resigned from debt collection out of frustration from this situation, I think we all know the culprit from the west who implemented that policy of no legal pursuit.
Many of us whom are at retirement age with good knowledge and proper common sense. We could be hired part time( to help you recover some your monies owed by dealing wth it properly trying not be bully by doing but insted proper communication to parties involved that we could forward to the diffrent depts. of our corresponse, meetings and most importantly the findings of what would progress from that. if Legistlation is needed pass it. run it like a business. Too much money is owed to our Gvt. and it' important we try recover as muchch as possible to be able to meet our future obligatipns. Let us help because we care for the future of our country. i don't really want to start on the Deadbeat Employers who collect from their staff money to pay for their pension and healthcare. Many many pocket the money but do not only don't contribute and they also very detrimintal. I wou;d like to see this as a priority so we can move on. LET'S WORK TOGETHER and get our Beloved Islands out of this big mess..
God Bless,
Michel Lemay
Our country is suffering from the non-collection of taxes, and if these matters of collection was to be persued – a good idea would be to follow the US pattern, go after their bank accounts, businesses, homes and other real property. Do not give a break to build their pockets. Hold until they have paid up their taxes with Government. Government requires people who are tough with their words and actions becoming examples for others who try to deprive the country from balancing the Budget. Please hire me!!! and a 60 degrees turn around would be worth it.
That's healthy.
Either we bring in the medical specialists, or we put in place a national healy plan, subsidies with a 2% salary tax.
This health insurance thing with the insurance companies, are not working