The Saint Kitts and Nevis government has announced transitional provisions to ease the introduction of value-added tax (VAT) in the jurisdiction.
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Denzil Douglas announced on August 11 that a month prior to the introduction of VAT, businesses will be allowed to arrange bonded facilities and other measures with the Comptroller of Customs whereby they will pay only the Duty and Customs Service Charge on imports.
“After the VAT is implemented on November 1, 2010, businesses will be required to report to the Customs with respect to these bonded goods, those which were sold under the Consumption Tax system and which were sold under VAT. At that time the applicable tax will be collected based on when these goods were sold,” said Douglas, pointing out that this setup will require that businesses operate with integrity and transparency so that the Customs authorities can ascertain the levels of their stocks prior to the start of the transition and confirm the level of stocks after the VAT date.
“In this way the government will be able to collect its fair share of revenue and businesses will pay their fair share of taxes,” said Douglas.
Douglas said the government is prepared to guide businesses through the process with the help of trained professionals who are able to provide step-by-step mentoring.
“Each registered business will be assigned to a member of the professional staff of the Inland Revenue Department who will visit the business and provide compliance advice. We are also offering to provide technical support to any business which has difficulty in making the necessary changes to its accounting and financial programme to accommodate the VAT.”
“In addition software and hardware reasonably required for the introduction of the VAT will be granted Duty Free Concessions upon application to the Ministry of Finance,” Douglas added.
“We are prepared to provide taxpayers with as much assistance as is feasible to ensure that the implementation [on November 1] is a success. I assure you that my government is ready for the introduction of the VAT and I am sure that private sector entities would be more than able to rise to the challenge and be prepared in the given timeframe,” the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Denzil Douglas announced on August 11 that a month prior to the introduction of VAT, businesses will be allowed to arrange bonded facilities and other measures with the Comptroller of Customs whereby they will pay only the Duty and Customs Service Charge on imports.
“After the VAT is implemented on November 1, 2010, businesses will be required to report to the Customs with respect to these bonded goods, those which were sold under the Consumption Tax system and which were sold under VAT. At that time the applicable tax will be collected based on when these goods were sold,” said Douglas, pointing out that this setup will require that businesses operate with integrity and transparency so that the Customs authorities can ascertain the levels of their stocks prior to the start of the transition and confirm the level of stocks after the VAT date.
“In this way the government will be able to collect its fair share of revenue and businesses will pay their fair share of taxes,” said Douglas.
Douglas said the government is prepared to guide businesses through the process with the help of trained professionals who are able to provide step-by-step mentoring.
“Each registered business will be assigned to a member of the professional staff of the Inland Revenue Department who will visit the business and provide compliance advice. We are also offering to provide technical support to any business which has difficulty in making the necessary changes to its accounting and financial programme to accommodate the VAT.”
“In addition software and hardware reasonably required for the introduction of the VAT will be granted Duty Free Concessions upon application to the Ministry of Finance,” Douglas added.
“We are prepared to provide taxpayers with as much assistance as is feasible to ensure that the implementation [on November 1] is a success. I assure you that my government is ready for the introduction of the VAT and I am sure that private sector entities would be more than able to rise to the challenge and be prepared in the given timeframe,” the Prime Minister said.
