GST-free Shopping is Hailed a Success

If you missed out on the second GST-free weekend shopping spree before the Christmas holidays, you missed some serious savings. Shoppers flocked to stores across the country to take advantage of the twelve-point five percent discount. Earlier today, News Five spoke with the Deputy Director General of the Belize Tax Services. She shared that everything ran smoothly this weekend, with fewer complaints about noncompliance.

 

Vilma Broaster, Deputy Director General, B.T.S.

“It was much more coordinated.  The taxpayers were complying and consumers were aware, so we got less calls this time around as compared to last week.  What we did note for this week is that there were more consumers who were shopping.  So we saw a lot more activities.  It was crowded at several [locations] and a number of business places were overflowing.  So that is what we saw.”

 

Isani Cayetano

“Is there any way that you would, perhaps, be able to give a ballpark figure as to how many shoppers came out and took advantage of the GST-free weekend?”

 

Vilma Broaster

“No. Honestly, I cannot give that to you because I would not know the numbers and we won’t know any figures until when the businesses file their returns in January next year.  The due date to file their returns is the fifteenth. Still the main complaints that we got was the retail/wholesale shops that ff you go into their establishments and you’re buying a case or a sack, they consider that wholesale and so they were charging the GST to persons who were making those purchases.  What we did was inform the business places that they know who their customers are.  They know who consumer are, as opposed to those that are business places.  So if someone comes into purchase a case or a sack of any item, they should be able to sell that to that person with the GST exemption.”