The Ministry of Finance is turning to technology in a bid to grow the number of footwear and clothing retailers qualifying for Customs duty waivers beyond the 154 already approved.
The Ministry of Finance, in a bid to reduce the cost of doing business and lower retail shopping prices at home, is urging merchants to apply for the waiver online at: atlas.revenue.gov.bs, its digital portal for exemption applications.
"We want to make the application and approval process as smooth as possible, so we encourage eligible businesses to apply online," said Marlon Johnson, the Ministry of Finance's financial secretary.
"This waiver will help businesses to reduce their costs of doing business, and help consumers to save. We want to make sure businesses are aware of the opportunity and know how to take advantage of it. We have already granted 154 waivers and we will continue to review any new applications we receive online.
"Businesses who are granted waivers are obligated to disclose this to consumers. They must advertise this in their stores and show the mark down in prices that resulted from their waivers. Consumers should therefore look out for these in-store signs to ensure they are the beneficiaries of cost savings," he continued.
"Note also that the Ministry will be doing spot checks on merchants to determine their compliance to the terms of the duty waiver - including reducing their prices and advertising same openly to customers."
The elimination of 20-25 percent Customs duty on footwear and apparel was unveiled in the 2018/2019 budget, with the exemption taking effect from the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
Recognising that Bahamian retailers were struggling to compete with online shopping and south Florida merchants, the Government implemented the Customs duty waiver as part of its package of tax relief measures earlier this year. The decision to reduce duty by about 20 percent helps to make shopping more affordable and local retailers more competitive.
Eligible shoe and clothing retailers with a valid business license can apply online for the duty waiver. It covers the import of clothing, footwear and other wearing apparels and accessories, as well as fabric for making apparel, sewing needles, buttons and zippers for clothing, for a period of six months.
As part of the application process, businesses must declare both the current pricing of sample items at the time of application and the anticipated new price after the concessions are granted. They also have to commit to advertise their marked down prices in a prominent way.
And, to qualify for a renewal, they have to show, using examples, how prices have been marked down and quantify the savings passed on to consumers. They are also subject to inspections and review by the Ministry of Finance.
Comments
The_Oracle 6 years ago
Define "prominent" in regards to price reduction? 5%? 15%? 20% Is anyone in Finance capable of calculating expected price reductions? 90% of "textile" goods sold in the Bahamas is purchased from the seconds market in the U.S anyway. How does one show reduction in the second, third, etc 6 month period? Continued or increased reductions? Who is keeping track? Duty while a significant cost of goods, pales in comparison to all the other operating costs. a reduction in duty is easily wiped out by a minor increase in power bills! In effect Government is attempting "price fixing" or more correctly "Margin fixing" Can a business opt out? if so, will full duty on imports subjected to Reduced duty be subject to retroactive taxation? Oh damn, I've probably just Given them headaches.
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