GST-free Shopping – Still Room for Improvement

While the GST-free shopping weekends have been praised as a success, Deputy Director General Vilma Broaster believes there’s still room for improvement. She also mentioned that the initiative has helped shoppers better understand the difference between zero-rated and standard-rate items.

 

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

 

“I’d consider it a success and with everything, there is always more to do.  So there is always things that we can do to improve.  You have some businesses who would not have been able to partake in it, as they ordinarily don’t open on Saturdays and Sundays.  So that is something that we can look into once there’s going to be another free day.  So that is something that should be a part of it.  Consumers are now aware of what their tax receipts should look like.  They know now what the zero-rated goods are, well I will say majority because, as with everything, there is still yet a need for us, B.T.S., to continue to educate both the public and the business community because there are still some products that consumers found that were being deemed zero-rated, as opposed to standard-rated.  So those are things that we will look into.”