THE VAT DECREASES

Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis explaining the VAT decrease Thursday 29 October 2021

The Prime Minister Philip Davis in his capacity as the Minister of Finance announced on Wednesday 27 October 2021 that the Value Added Tax Rate will drop from 12.5 per cent to 10 per cent across the board on 1 January 2021.  This is welcome relief for the poor. Of course, the FNM miscreants were quickly  parroting the line that items have been removed from being vat free on the breadbasket list and the tax will be across the board.  They removed VAT on breadbasket items they said and the PLP is putting it back.  Only thing is the facts show that the public got no benefit from the zero rating.  In fact, the merchants took the profits and ran. This PLP reduction will be a real rate decrease for all people.  You may remember the PLP opposed zero rating saying that when the tax was implemented, the advice was that the more complications that you make in applying the tax , the more expensive it is to administer. The FNMs, think they are so smart. Anyway that’s the truth about the VAT tax reduction. It is better for the poor.