IT IS ILLEGAL to add a sales tax to products and credit it to the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL).
In a media release, Revenue Commissioner Margaret Sivers of the Barbados Revenue Authority said the NSRL was “not a sales tax” and should not be added at the point of sale.
“The Authority has been receiving reports that some retailers have been adding a tax to customer purchases at the cash register and attributing the receipted charge as NSRL. This practice is inaccurate and quite frankly, illegal,” she explained.
“Businesses should not show the levy on sales invoices or receipts and the levy therefore should not be paid by the consumer. It is to be treated no differently from import duty. The only line item which is shown on sales invoices and receipts is the VAT information. We recognise that the levy is still very new and we want to clarify this point early so that retailers do not fraudulently tax their consumers.” (PR/SAT)