Barbadians who were hoping to receive their income tax refunds before Christmas will have to wait a little bit longer.Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn admitted on Monday that while some refunds had been paid, Government was strapped for cash and was not in a position to pay all the outstanding refunds at this time.Straughn explained that Government had expended a significant amount of its resources in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and in recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Elsa and the ashfall.He said that, as a result, the current cash flow was limited.“Income tax returns have started to pay; however, I think what the public should appreciate is that while we have seen increased revenue, we’ve also foregone revenue but Government’s expenditure has actually increased like everybody else as well, so we have a number of departments that have been requesting additional funds for electricity.
