Businesses say they’re set for hurricane season VAT holiday

Two leading businesses that offer hurricane supplies said yesterday that their systems are set and they’re ready for the government’s hurricane value-added tax (VAT) holiday, which begins on Friday.

Co-owner and President of CBS Bahamas John Treco and Chief Executive Officer of JBR Building Supplies Charles Albury said they hope Bahamians do not take for granted that there is not a storm currently threatening the islands and instead stock up now.

“Bahamians have a tendency to wait until the midnight hour. We’re hoping that they take advantage of these, because you won’t see the deals when the hurricanes are raring up next month, God forbid. This is a real good opportunity for Bahamians to take advantage of,” Treco told Guardian Business.

Albury, in a separate interview added, “I am hoping they will because we don’t like hurricane business. We don’t like the rush and we never want the hurricane season because people lose control and everything. So we’re hoping they take advantage so that when a hurricane does come, we don’t have the congestion that we normally have.”

The Ministry of Finance announced last week that the tax break on hurricane supplies would run from July 9 to July 30 and would be applicable to dozens of items including flashlights, drop cords, uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems, battery-operated fans, batteries, tarps, prefilled sand bags, water containers and cans.

Treco said his company had started preparing for the hurricane season since the end of May and are also offering shoppers additional savings.

“We’re ready. We have two aisles totally dedicated to hurricane products that we’ve been stocking up on and we have been preparing for the hurricane season before it even began six weeks ago. Not only is the 12 percent being offered, but we also are offering an additional 20 percent for products on top of that. We also have the majority of the products listed as a VAT free purchase,” he said.

“We also have the hurricane panel kits to protect your windows and doors. It’s a shelf item on display on the shelves. Once you know the size of your windows you can pick up the kit, follow the instructions and it’s very simple to install and quite economical.”

Albury said his company’s systems are all ready to go for Friday, however he anticipated only one challenge.

“Some of it is clarity on what the government has proposed but that’s something that will come in time I guess. As usual some of it is vague, but we don’t have any system issues or anything, we’re really prepared. It wasn’t difficult for our system to change,” he said.

Oil lanterns and the bottles used for them, as well as duct and masking tape, empty five-gallon buckets, raincoats and water boots, life jackets, hurricane lanterns, sternos, portable butane stoves, manual can openers, plywood, coolers, insect repellant, storm shutters and residential generators will also not carry VAT charges during the holiday period.

The post Businesses say they’re set for hurricane season VAT holiday appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

source https://thenassauguardian.com/businesses-say-theyre-set-for-hurricane-season-vat-holiday/