By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
A LOCAL retail store chain yesterday moved to allay the concerns of customers that it was prematurely adding value added tax to the pricing of its items ahead of VAT’s implementation on January 1, 2015.
Sandy’s Limited’s General Manager Judy Higgs said while the chain’s five stores have not charged customers the VAT rate of 7.5 per cent, it had attached stickers on some new items with the VAT price visible.
Ms Higgs said the company got clearance from the Ministry of Finance’s VAT commission to do so with a view to meeting the deadline to have all items priced with the new tax rate visible by next February.
She added that the company’s management was anticipating a fall off in business when VAT comes on stream.
Inside Sandy’s five stores and warehouse there are more than a million items to be priced with the new VAT inclusive sticker, she said.
“We met with the VAT commission,” Ms Higgs told The Tribune. “They gave a time frame to have all of our items priced in the way that people are now seeing. We have begun to do it on the new items.
“There are more than a million items in all of our stores and the warehouse. To meet the deadline, we had to begin. To re-price everything will take us months and it is a tedious process.
“But we are not charging the VAT rate because we know that it would be against the law to do so. But in doing this, it shows consumers what the new prices will look like with the 7.5 per cent added on to the original price.”
Ms Higgs said she received many calls about the new pricing stickers from customers who wanted to know if VAT had been implemented early.
Sandy’s was placed in the spotlight this week after a few pictures of the new price tags popped up on social media website Facebook. The photos triggered dozens of comments from people who were concerned that VAT may have been charged early.
Comments
The_Oracle 9 years, 6 months ago
Typical ignorant Bahamian behavior, accuse, fly off the handle, then learn what is really happening. The vast majority have no clue what is about to hit them, yet the Government will be pleased to demonize Private enterprise, and stand guilty as hell quietly in the dark corner when it is all their doing. We, the public are about to pay dearly for 50 years of the lies, theft, mismanagement, waste and borrowing of our elected officials and the Civil service. Not that the Ministry of finance itself yet knows the details of what they will impose on Jan 1st, and the private sector is left to figure out how to comply with the unknown. You couldn't have planned this impending fiasco any better if you had tried!
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 6 months ago
I say typical administration screwup. Wouldn't it have been prudent for someone somewhere to have proactively announced that this was happening but no VAT was being charged? That seems like a better plan than letting customers see "VAT 7.5%" on the price label
ohdrap4 9 years, 6 months ago
i now wonder if they will really shut down acess to amazon. most people ship to us adresses anyway.
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 6 months ago
Many of us have decided we will favour shopping at those local retail stores, grocery stores and gas stations that show VAT as a separate amount on the price label and/or purchase receipt. Merchants who choose not to show the VAT amount separately from the purchase price should therefore expect to suffer the consequences of wrongfully aiding and abetting our Government's desire to hide the impact of VAT from Bahamians.
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