The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

PRICE Control Commission (PCC) chairman E J Bowe said that there has been a ‘“tremendous improvement” in the overall compliance by merchants with price-controlled  goods under Value-Added Tax  (VAT), noting that the Commission has effectively carried out inspections on all of the major islands.

“Compliance  has been very good in New Providence and in the Family Islands,” Mr Bowe told Tribune Business. “I recently got back from Bimini, the last island that I have been to with the team. We have covered all of the major islands with the exception of Crooked Island, Acklins and Mayaguana. All of the other  major islands have been covered and the compliance was good.”

Mr Bowe said: “I have found the the consumers were willing to pay the 7.5 per cent but what they are concerned about is that merchants maybe taxing them twice. In a number places even in New Providence, there has been a misunderstanding on the part of consumers.”

Mr Bowe noted that larger retailers in New Providence have not adopted the VAT-inclusive pricing structure by making the price on the item the final price. They have opted to display two prices on the shelf, with one showing the VAT-inclusive price.

“We had said before and the law states that the final price called VAT-inclusive is the price which should go onto the article but that is not being done in the major stores in New Providence. Some consumers have been confused because when they see the VAT price on the shelf and VAT on the slip at the register they think they are being double taxed. But that’s not the case.

“There are some smaller stores in the Family Islands and in New Providence that are are putting the VAT on the goods and saying it’s not VAT. But when you look at the costs of the goods, the breadbasket items, it’s exactly what it is when you put the VAT on. When you go to the register they attempted to put it on again. This was in the earlier stage when we went around to the Family Islands. That has been cleared up now.”

Mr Bowe said that the Commission was still conducting regular inspections of businesses. “Our main focus is to protect consumers and you can’t do that sitting down in the office, you have to go out into the field. If I’m on the island there isn’t a day that I don’t go out and do spot checks here and there.

“We have seen tremendous improvement and we are satisfied that there isn’t any price gouging going on so to speak on breadbasket items. On the other items, we look to make sure and see there is only 7.5 per cent VAT charged but whatever the merchants put on other goods which are not breadbasket items, they can charge whatever they want provided consumers allow them to get away with it. It’s in those areas where you get quite a bit of what consumers call price gouging.”