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04th March 2010
VAT Report Goes to Government

Will Government keep to its word and introduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) before April of this year or will Government delay its implementation for another time?
Everyone, even the VAT office it seems wants to know the Government’s next move in this regard. The VAT office has already completed its report which will soon be in the hands of the Government for Cabinet’s perusal prior to the presentation of the budgetary estimates for the 2010/2011 financial year.
Contained in that report are suggestions and recommendations from members of the public the VAT team dialogued with during its town hall meetings in communities across the country.
Surprisingly opposition to the VAT idea was not as strong as expected or what the VAT team expected during its tour of the communities. However those who attended the various meetings were vocal and made some very sensible and in some instances brilliant recommendations and suggestions, The VOICE learned.
The momentum the VAT team had over the past months in spreading the message of VAT, as instructed by Government, has dwindled.

 
 

What to do next, The VOICE learned, is the big question facing the VAT team as it awaits the implementation date. Prime Minister Stephenson King made it clear last year that the tax would not be implemented before April 2010. With one month to go before the time frame set by the Prime Minister comes into effect and with still much work left to be done in preparing the country for the tax, the possibility of the tax implementation date being rescheduled looks realistic.
Should the implementation date of the tax be moved to later this year or even next year the VAT office would find itself in a small dilemma as to whether it should start its public education campaign all over again or continue from where it left off.
So far there has been no word yet as to whether the tax will be spoken of in this year’s budget presentation.
The opposition meanwhile has weighed in on the VAT matter with political leader Dr. Kenny Anthony seemingly in support of the VAT however calling on the Prime Minister to delay its implementation now because of the heavy financial burden Saint Lucians are presently under. Implementing the VAT now, Dr. Anthony says, will not be a wise thing for the Government to do.

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