EVERY DOLLAR EARNED from the National Social Responsibility Levy will be used to help Barbados’ health care bill alone, Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler has reaffirmed.
The levy, which takes effect from today, is expected to earn Government in the region of $142 million through a two per cent imposition on all imported goods outside of the tourism, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
In a release issued through the Barbados Government Information Service yesterday, Barbadians were reminded that the levy was “not just another tax”, but one designed to ensure there continued to be a “high quality and efficient” health care system in Barbados.
Sinckler revealed that instructions have been given to the Accountant General to create a special deposit account into which those resources would go, so they would not be sent to the Consolidated Fund.
“Like any tax, you are not going to hit it perfectly on day one. You have to give it a couple weeks for it to work the kinks out. We will be having meetings with bodies that are interested in the tax,” he noted.
“The Barbados Revenue Authority is hard at work preparing the guidance notes which will be shared with members of the community, both businesses and individuals, as to how the tax should be implemented, should be collected and should behave in the context of the market place.”
He reiterated that the levy would increase prices, but said he did not know by how much.
“You have to work through the system and see. What we do not want is for business people to take this as an opportunity to find ways to increase prices and then blame it on the levy.
“That would be rather unfortunate, particularly given what the levy was designed to achieve. We will wait and see and of course the people from the Economic Affairs Division and the Division of Commerce will monitor and we will see where the impacts are likely, both negative and positive,” he added. (BA/BGIS)