Will VAT be introduced to Saint Lucia?
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Contact: Julita Peter
Friday, November 7, 2008 – The Government of St. Lucia has set up a unit within the Ministry of Finance, to explore all the issues associated with the introduction of a Value Added Tax system or VAT. Although Prime Minister Honourable Stephenson King who is also Minister for Finance , is yet to announce a time frame for the introduction of VAT, he says Saint Lucia will be piggy backing on the experiences of neighbouring islands like Barbados, St. Vincent and Dominica, which have been using the Value Added Tax system.
“The long and short of it all is that if we are to introduce VAT in this country, it must not be an additional burden on the tax payers of St. Lucia. And we will do all in our power to ensure that when the process starts, whatever eventually emerges will be one that does not impose any additional taxes on those who are already paying taxes in the country.
Value Added Tax, is a special type of indirect tax, in which a sum of money is charged at a particular stage in the sale of a product or service. VAT is one mechanism for generating revenue for a government. |
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