President of the St Lucia Manufacturers Association (SMA), Paula Calderon has cast doubt on whether the country will be ready for the scheduled implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) next April.
Calderon also said that the VAT should be introduced gradually.
“We think it’s going to take a little longer than April and what we would like to do is see that it is implemented on a phased basis, that we deal with it slowly and make sure that all the hiccups are seen and dealt with, so that when we fully implement it there will be no problems,” she told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).








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Problems like what? Is there something wrong with me asking QUESTIONS? Mr. Moderator!
Value Added tax… think about it very carefully. Whatever the rate of VAT that is to be introduced, it is an additional expense to whatever the price of the goods, product or service the consumer will be asked to pay for. Is this really an affordable extra in this economic climate? This is not a political argument and I do not really care which party in government at the time introduced it. I believe that St. Lucians cannot afford VAT at this time. If the government of the day wishes to generate revenue to bolster its coffers, then it should think again because this taxation should not be introduced and should persue other areas to generate such funds that the tax payers can afford.