…questions on budget
Your Eyewitness would love nothing more than get off this budget. “A pox on the budget!” he rails with upraised arms! But no matter where he turns – whether it’s the louche hoi polloi near Stabroek Market where he gets his coconut water or with the buttoned down corporate types with whom he plays squash, it’s “budget, budget, budget”.
One of the latter, a very bright highflyer with an accounting/finance background took time out to educate him on the nuances, implications and differences between the “zero rated” and “exempt” items as far as the VAT is concerned. Your Eyewitness must confess Jordan could well have been talking about string theory, quantum indeterminacy and dark matter!! But within the context of the overall budget – which was too clever by half in trying to run with the hares and hunt with the fox – your jaded Eyewitness knew there HAD to be a “catch”.
“And there was!” his erudite corporate buddy assured him. Seems when an item is “zero rated” all the taxes including VAT on items that you put into creating the item are reimbursed back to the producer. So therefore when the goods are finally sold to the consumer, no VAT is charged to the customer. It’s Zero rated!! Get it?
On the other hand, when the item is “exempt” the taxes on the input goods and services that add value on the item are not reimbursed – and thus have to be passed on to the final customer as part of the cost, even though VAT’s not charged. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure items that are “exempt” will now be more expensive!! Just look at what you’ll be charged for bread and flour, next year!!
All we need to know is by removing all those items from the “zero rated” basket and plunking them into the “exempt” one, the consumer will be hit in the end. Where it hurts the most!! And it’s this your Eyewitness finds so reprehensible about the manner in which the Finance Minister went about crafting this budget – he was VERY crafty! Like a fox.
Even though he couldn’t hide some of the more outrageous new taxes – like the ones in water and electricity, which he tried to fob off as “encouraging conservation”!! – he had the chutzpah to disguise others like the above. As your Eyewitness’ corporate pal assured him, “This budget will therefore have the opposite impact to a stimulus which is what was desperately needed.”
How could it be otherwise? It’s said he who “giveth” can also “taketh”. But what do you say about one who only taketh from our pockets and purses?
Bandit?
…backwardness on Cuba
Fidel Castro isn’t even settled in his grave and the thawing of relations between Cuba and the US, initiated by President Obama appears in danger of being rolled back. And here your Eyewitness had dared to hope the economic embargo that had strangled Cuba’s development in that quarter for over half a century would finally be lifted.
Fat chance! If we’re to go by Trump’s tweet. Imagine after the massive outpouring of love and affection from the Cuban people at the passing of Fidel – as everyone called him – Trump insisted “If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal.” That is, just like in the sixties when the embargo was launched as well as the Bay of Pigs invasion, the US will judge what’s best for Cuba!!
And what’s good for America is of course good for Cuba!!
…authoritarian streak
And your Eyewitness has to end on…what else?… the budget. Have you noticed the stubborn streak of authoritarianism that’s exposed with every initiative of this Government?
Imagine the wankers want the GRA to garnish your money in the bank. And that’s “garnish” as in “forcibly seize”, not “embellish”!!
