The introduction of the Value Added Tax or VAT by Government six years ago continues to be a significant revenue earner for the Government.
The VAT replaced the consumption tax of 20 percent on most goods, the sales tax of 7.5 percent on all goods, the hotel occupancy tax of 5 percent and the entertainment tax.
The VAT was imposed at a general rate of 15 percent. A reduced rate of ten percent was also applied to hotel accommodation.
Comptroller of the Inland Revenue Department, Irving Williams, told GIS News last week the introduction of the VAT was part of a wider tax reform process designed to simplify the tax system in Dominica. Williams said that the introduction of VAT has improved revenue collection in Dominica.
“It does a lot for the economy because that is a tax that most persons probably cannot escape. Everybody would have to pay VAT on whatever they buy. Since they are registered, then, the person they are buying from, they will have to pay VAT. It does well for the economy. It is a tax persons are not able to avoid easily. For instance, something like direct taxes and income taxes they pay on profits. There are a number of ways persons try to avoid the payment of taxes by not declaring total sales, not declaring the correct expenses, but the VAT is different. You pay on the cost of the goods and it is really the consumer that really pays the taxes,” he pointed out.
Over the last year the VAT was able to bring in over $10-million to Government monthly.
“Most of it comes through the port of entry when persons import goods; they pay VAT. There is the domestic VAT which persons pay when they go to the supermarket. It accounts to about $5-million of VAT,” Williams said.
Government’s decision to introduce the VAT six years ago was consistent with a study conducted in 2002 by the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund. The study recommended, among other things, the introduction of a VAT.
In 2004, the OECS Tax Commission conducted a review of the tax system in the OECS and also recommended the implementation of a VAT within the member states of the sub-region.
BUT WHERE THE RED THUMBS NUH!!!!!! ALLU DIDNT EXPECT THAT??????
NO COMMENTS???? IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE???????
COME ON PEOPLE THE SILENCE IS KILLING ME………..
MAYBE ALLU JUST NOT GOOD AT THE MATHS STUFF (REAL WORLD)
LET ME BE FIRST TO APOLOGISE FOR THE RUDE AWAKENING
LM PATIROTIC AO
EC$10million per month.
So with Vat at 15%, this means Dominicans are spending around EC$65million per month.
Simplistic maths I know, but look money Dominicans are spending in the shops.
The major part of this comes from VAT paid at Customs…since we produce NOTHING we have to import everything from outside.
10 million a month? Please investigate the matter? Dominicans wake up, seems we are in a very deep sleep.
What exactly are you trying to say??? Maybe its your American accent but i didnt understand where you wanted to go with that!
ITS OBVIOUS THAT YOU ARE CONFUSED……… STAY OUT OF GROWN PEOPLE AFFAIRS…….THIS IS WAY OVER THE TOP OF YOUR RED HEAD……..STICK TO GIVING RED THUMBS TO EVERYTHING THAT IS CRITICAL OF YOUR DADDY……..
these idiots are proud that their biggest source of income is taxing the people. wow, i should go into politics cause clearly these guys have no clue.
vat on everything including public servants.
So in lay mans terms you give your children an allowance, then you tax them for the food they eat, the showers they take, hrs of tv they watch. … to raise funds to give them an allowance again…. then you’re proud to say that you’re making money???
Then giving a huge part of that money to unproductive portions of the population in exchange to gain favor with them for vote.
Nonsense.
Once you can work, you must pay tax, If you make more, you pay more. Why not on public servants too? If you don t want to pay tax, do Agriculture, its TAX FREE. Yet nobody wants to do it anymore.
In lay mans terms, you are training you child to survive, he/she has to work, for the food they eat, the showers they take, hrs of tv they watch. … increase self esteem, encourage entrepreneurship, work effects, determination and ambition. A child must know if he/she wants to live a life of luxury, one must work hard.
I agree more have to be done in other sectors to bring in more $10 million per month, but this is our contribution to our beloved Nature Ilse, and it is very welcomed. Maybe, we can give more, buy local, eat what we grow..grow what we eat.
Lets all come together to build our Country. If we cannot do it, others will.
LOL ………….NO SORRY LMAO
ALL DOH SEE HOW THE MINISTERS AND THEM TRAVELLING
AND ALL THOSE DUTY FREE LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTER….WOULD MEAN MORE TAX WOULD BE COLLECTED………
YES WE NEED THE TAX AND WE NEED GOVERNMENT TO STOP WASTING TAXPAYERS MONEY AND THROWING IT AWAY IN ALL THOSE EXEMPTIONS TO THEIR FRIENDS
OH AND ANOTHER THING………..LET PEOPLE WORK AND FIX THEIR HOUSE AND ROOF AND THOSE THINGS ………….TAX MONEY SHOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!!!!!
OH AND ANOTHER THING………..LET PEOPLE WORK AND FIX THEIR HOUSE AND ROOF AND THOSE THINGS ………….TAX MONEY SHOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!!!!!
THANK YOU
I TIRED TELL THEM THAT………………. WHEN THEIR DAUGHTER WILL HAVE TO GO AND SLEEP WITH A MINISTER FOR A CHANCE AT AN EDUCATION, THEIR A&*& WILL CLOSE AND THEIR EYES AND EARS WILL OPEN
@anti-hate
you are the silly one. whats wrong with the question or the person wondering where their money going to –
well i can answer u wiki lee – in their pocket while my pocket empty-yyyyy…..
There is a budget address every year that states where the money is going…
So there is no need to wonder, it is spelled out in the budget, income and expenditure of the gov’t.
The developing countries like Canada and the U.S have various taxes. Yes there are more employment opportunities but that that does not negate the taxes. Taxes are one way the government and the people can help the country function. You pay taxes which are used to develop the same country you call home. A miserly 10 million dollars a month is very much inadequate to meet all the financial obligation of a country. Even when coupled with other moneys generated from other sectors Dominica cannot function solely on these moneys. That is why leaders continue to build diplomatic relations with more advance countries in an attempt to secure funding for various projects and other causes.
HUSH UR A*** MY POOR MOTHER CANNOT PAY NO MORE TAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SHE STRUGGLING WITH HER MORTGAGE WHILE SOMEBODY MAYBE HELPING YOU WITH FAVOURS TO PAY YOURSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Captive tax collecting.
And where does that money go? Or rather what does it go for in terms of using the money to better the country?
LOL HAHAHAH I SO GLAD!!!!
TAKE WHAT ALLU A%&^ GET,
ALLU ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES CAN NEVER DO NO WRONG????
GO AND JUMP INFRONT THEM TO PROTECT THEM FROM WHAT IS COMING TO THEM
We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. –Winston Churchil
I SURPRISED NONE OF THOSE RED FACE PEOPLE DIDN’T THUMBS DOWN WINSTON
Big government, $120million VAT money annually, and the politicians have more to pocket at the expense of the poor. Question: When will those who elect learn? Lougaoo old granny once said, the way you make your bed, that’s how you sleep. I say to my people; deal with it because you brought it on yourselves!
“It does a lot for the economy because that is a tax that most persons probably cannot escape. Everybody would have to pay VAT on whatever they buy. Since they are registered, then, the person they are buying from, they will have to pay VAT. It does well for the economy. It is a tax persons are not able to avoid easily………………………….
“Most of it comes through the port of entry when persons import goods; they pay VAT. There is the domestic VAT which persons pay when they go to the supermarket. It accounts to about $5-million of VAT,” Williams said.
MR WILLIAMS ARE YOU THE ONLY ONE WHO DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT THE “CHINESE”?
AH MAGWAY SAH
Ok so taxpayers pay taxes… the line item is bringing in millions in revenue… But where have these funds been redirected in regards to investment for the TAXPAYERS—> What about healthcare??? which hasn’t been really prioritized….. and homecare for the less fortunate seniors…. We deserve so much more dialogue than we get from the legislation.
If those chinese stores in roseau were paying VAT, the government would be collecting a lot more, maybe even double the current amount. What is good for the goose is good for the gander especially when the gander come out right china.
The Chinese businesses not paying any VAT may well be one of the agreements noted in the MOU.
I need someone to help me, PLEASE tell me when was the decision made to outlaw the word PEOPLE in Dominica, having gone to up to secondary school in Dominica, I was taught that one is a PERSON and two is PEOPLE, and thats how we spoke till I left, then the more I visit home and read here on this site, I realize that the word People is no longer in the vocab. Is it an intellectual thing, where if you want to sound intelligent you have to say PERSONS? When I come home and refer to more that one as PEOPLE, am I being regarded as unlearned, furthermore if the word is outlawed am I subject to being arrested and charged? For my own good and the good of the people I love, please educate me on this matter, so I dont go around Dominica calling a gathering, a crown of people and needing my father to put up the land paper to bail me.
As I listen to my schoolmate Irvin deliver his most eloquent speech, he is apparently painstaking in his attempts not to messup and say people, has there been a speech where someone absent mindedly blurted out PEOPLE when refering to more than one, and if so, what became of such a PERSON, have they been heard from since, or are they relegated to the likes of the 256 now at stockfarm. You may see humor in this but I promise you I am serious and need only serious PEOPLE to reply.
They can both be used
Some of us feel that we are too educated and don’t worth a sh*t. You love the America where they write their own English. Eg. ‘Check’ for ‘Cheque’. At least we Catholics or from early days at school we were taught – There are 3 persons in one God – “God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit”
You should come to Dominica and teach English instead of wasting your time up there. Open an English school and charge a fee. Mr. Williams will be glad for some extra dollars in taxes. Think about that. Don’t be like some people who shame to go back to Dominica because they left nothing behind. Tell me if you decide to take my advice because I taught English and hope to start teaching English again.
These are the issues that concern me, the high taxes. Why do i have to pay for 3 vehicles when i buy one? Why is it i have to subsidize the transportation of school children when i can hardly feed myself?. Nothing is for free and it always comes at a cost to someone. Someone has to pay for it. Politicians generally don’t tell us that, all they tell us its them doing things for us while its our tax dollar doing the work. We all want to feed ourselves and our families. Its very hard when one can hardly make ends meet. Hope our politicians can discuss these real issues and stop focusing on winning elections. We all need a better life in our beautiful Dominica.
We need to stop electing career politicians.
Wikilee,
Are you kidding me? You’re not serious, right. Sorry but you must be living somewhere else except the big wide world. You must be the only person (where ever you live) who does not know how governments throughout the world use its income tax.
Kindly do some reading on the workings of government on how it collects revenue and how and where this revenue goes.
The VAT tax is all consuming and in the end deeply retards growth. Taxation saps incentive and that is how countries and economies fail. There will be no end to government regulations and interference.
This all leads to a small coterie of the rich, a shrinking middle class and those with jobs and those without jobs.
Government getting money papa
Dear Mr Finance Minister,
I’m elated to hear this news! I for one have no problem with paying my taxes as it is my civic duty.
But sir, ten million a month is a lot. Yet, we civil servants have to beg and struggle to get an increase in our already meagre salary.
Sir, I also have a problem with the charges at the port which in turn escalates the VAT.
Please sir remember the poor people of Dominica and their children who voted for you in 2009 and do something about the port, our salary, and the access to affordable loans to build our houses. Continue the good work of developing our country.
“we can’t excape VAT, we Must pay VAT, everybody is paying VAT” can they tell us how this 10 million is being spent?????
It’s being spent on gov’t expenditure such as paying salaries of civil servants, tertiary-education assistance, maintaining schools, hospitals and the road network etc!!
What kind of silly question is that? Please raise your level of debate and ask poignant questions.
And are you a Wikileaks imposter? What is up with you guys’ lack of originality?
Anti-Hate, you’re being silly, the government were paying salaries of civil servants, tertiary-education, and the works before the VAT was implemented. Right?????
DOn’t be a fool not everyday is April 1st.
Ever occurred to you that because of VAT they have been able to hire more workers? Didn’t civil servants just get an increase? How about more students being assisted with their studies? How about more infrastructural development projects being implemented?
And have you forgotten the days when gov’t workers were being paid at mid-month due to severe financial constraints on the gov’t?
Your question is just a silly and shallow question and I can’t believe you got ten people to like such a superficial question..
Where do you think the money in the Budget comes from. The money goes to treasury and funds regular government budgets.
it also funds the red clinic….
No wonder you always first in line you and yur family
Funding Red Clinic is communism, redistribution of wealth, taking from the productive people in society and giving to the less productive
You really hve to ask that question – 10m x 12 is 120M a year, look at the budget, that 120m is a drop in the bucket and am betting that it cant even pay for the public servants salaries….
Anti-hate… that you vex about 12 likes? Jeez and your name is anti-hate? Anyway i asked a simple question and you answered. Good luck in blowing steam. Jeez again.
LOL