Participants at a recent tax outreach programme stressed the importance of a coordinated and inclusive approach to international standards to support the consistent application of national Value Added Tax (VAT) systems and the effective taxation of digital services.
The virtual workshop, held on March 4 under the theme “VAT: Digital Trade, Design and Implementation,” was co-hosted by the Caribbean Community/Caribbean Organisation of Tax Administrators, the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators, the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations, the International Monetary Fund/Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre, the World Bank Group and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
According to organisers, the one-day session brought together development partners working across the Caribbean to share experiences and streamline capacity-building efforts aimed at addressing regional tax priorities.
More than 250 participants attended the outreach programme, representing 13 Caribbean countries — Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago — as well as representatives from the CARICOM Secretariat and the co-hosting organisations.
Participants noted that the rapid digitalisation of the global economy has significantly increased cross-border trade and services, creating new challenges for VAT collection worldwide. As a result, they emphasised the need for deeper regional and international coordination to ensure effective taxation in the digital economy.
The workshop also outlined key policy tools available to help secure VAT collection in cross-border transactions and featured experience-sharing presentations from Barbados, The Bahamas and Peru.
Organisers said the discussions formed part of broader efforts to strengthen the Caribbean’s capacity to address emerging tax issues linked to digital trade while improving the design and implementation of VAT systems across the region.
