Tax divide

A private sector proposal for a tax-free or VAT-free day has been turned down by Government.
But in a new twist, the private sector has apparently now turned its back on a Government counterproposal for another duty-free day because of the significant division it caused within the Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) last year.
When contacted yesterday, BCCI president Lalu Vaswani confirmed to the MIDWEEK NATION that the group had made a formal proposal to Government “for a national VAT-free day – for a single day and giving specific suggestions how to ensure that it operated in a transparent way and not be abused”.
However, Vaswani revealed: “That request was not successful and so we did not have what we were seeking for the entire business community.”