I have heard/read a little about about a possible

upcoming change from BTB hotel tax to GST for holiday bookings. Any information on details and timing is appreciated.

Proposal to repeal 9% hotel tax and instead apply 12.5% gst, starting Jan 2013, but still in formulation. Ask you local BTIA rep who are in active discussions with BTB and GST

Well, I guess, who do you ask for what? Tax...9% or 12.5%. Who's going to benefit, and who's going to lose?
Pocket, pocket? Whose pocket is going to get it?
I'm used to thinking, or seeing, a tax is supposed to be about a representation...
Is this another tax without representation?
Tea Party, anyone?

From what I understand, hotel owners seem to think it will be a net plus for them to go to GST.

No way it is a plus for visitors, with rates increased by 3 1/2 percentage points in 2013, plus any regular increases, unless hotel operators take this as an opportunity to become more competitive with Costa Rica and Mexico and other countries.

Of course this is just another government grab for money and anyone that thinks differently is fooling themselves. How on earth do I, as a private property owner, ever recover the additional 3.5%. Basically the government is just stomping away on the goose that lays the golden eggs and they won't be satisfied until the golden goose is a dead duck. It would be different if this money were going to stay on the island and go back into the infrastructure but it will go to Belmopan where the big pot of gold is so that the people in charge can again rob the people all the while telling them they are helping them. It is disgusting!

For accuracy sake, the idea of repealing 9% hotel tax and replacing it with 12.5% gst was first floated by hoteliers a few yrs ago so they could recover gst, which they are not now able to do. This is nothting new to BHA and BTIA and certainly, a welcomed change for BHA

That's what I thought - I guess if folks are members of the hotel associations, or if they don't keep abreast of the dealings with the associations it would be easy to have missed the lobbying.

It all depends on what the size of your hotel is, whether or not you have a restaurant, bar, gift or dive shop. If you have these, you are already doing the deductions on your GST every month. The problem is that if you don't have those things, then it gets very complicated. What is the new "ceiling"? What about GST that is currently just a pass through from hotels to tour companies? How do those who provide meals to their guests determine the GST that they have paid for the food portion of the room charge in order to deduct what they have paid for that? I think it needs some bigger discussions and a longer time frame.... JMO

The idea to replace the Hotel Tax by GST came at the moment that the Hotel Tax was raised from 7 to 9% and the GST was 10%. Not 12.5%.