Defunct newspaper owes $40,000 in VAT

It had been rumored for several weeks, reported in the Belize Times and headlined in the Amandala. Today News Five has confirmed that it’s true. The Pulse newspaper, which published its last issue yesterday, does in fact owe in the vicinity of forty thousand dollars in VAT. The revelation that the U.D.P.’s official organ was and still is a tax delinquent will likely haunt the party, which prided itself on its good fiscal citizenship, for quite a while. This afternoon News Five spoke to U.D.P. leader Dean Barrow and he acknowledged that the debt exists although pointed out that the Pulse is owned by a limited liability company and not by the U.D.P. itself. Sources close to the paper have indicated that it owes money to a number of creditors in addition to the government but also has a number of outstanding bills to collect. It is understood that it will endeavor to make good on its debts. For his part Barrow said that his party feels a sense of obligation to the paper and will do all it can to set things right.