GST-free weekend shopping is here!!

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 13, 2024

For the first time, Belizean consumers can go to any supermarket and will not be charged the standardized 12.5% GST. This waiver will be in effect this weekend and next weekend.

“Retailers are reminded that the price must be GST inclusive. So, your price displayed must reflect the GST so that the final consumer can see indeed that they are, that you are removing the GSD from the product,” said Vilma Broaster, Deputy Director General for the Belize Tax Service. “So, [if] we have a television as we had indicated valued at $1,125 GSD inclusive, the consumer will only pay $1,000 when they go to make that purchase on those days that we have designated as exempt days,” she noted.

_{Photo: Vilma Broaster, Deputy Director General for the Belize Tax Service}

The Government of Belize announced the wonderful news on Monday, December 9, adding that picnic shoulder hams, smoked ham legs, and imported turkeys will be zero-rated for the entire month of December. However, several items will not fall under the bracket of the GST exemption; those items not exempted of GST are as follows: motor vehicle, fuels – gasoline, diesel, and liquid petroleum gas – alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, firearms and ammunition.

While this innovative change allows consumers to stretch their dollars for the Christmas holidays, and is likely to encourage them to spend their dollars knowing they won’t be paying any GST, some business owners aren’t feeling it like the shoppers, mainly because they aren’t equipped to handle the change. Some have indicated that they will close up shop during those days to avoid adjusting their system.

“We know that certain persons, certain taxpayers have POS systems and others have programmable cash registers, so this will depend on what your system can do, because as we are aware, we do note that some taxpayers have said that for them to implement the discount … to remove the GST from the receipt, it would create some issues for them, as they would need to have a manager go to make that adjustment,” said Broaster.

“This one is a little bit tricky. The thing is that all businesses … because there’s an SI that speaks to the fact that the goods will be exempt … so there’s no way [of] getting around that. Persons operating a business and registered for a GST must implement these for those days, for all the affected days. If they are selling ham and imported turkey, they will have to implement these. If a business plans to close on those days, I am [uncertain] what we can do with a person who chooses to close their business. They will be losing sales, because the [number] of persons that we envision will be out there to try and purchase on these days will be a large [number] of persons. So, if they choose not to take their share for those days, that’s their prerogative,” she said.

Broaster explained that consumers will know what their nontaxable products are by looking at their receipts.

“The GST will come up on your receipt. So, based on that, you should know what you are required to pay. If I buy $100 worth of goods, it will say $88 as the sub — if it’s all standard-rated goods. $88 will be the sub-total, the GST to pay is $12, and so you know that you should only be paying that business $88. When you purchase your goods, you will see that the receipt will show that there’s a T, which means that that supply … that good is taxable; or there’s an N, or it says nontaxable. So, that is what will guide the consumer to know what goods the exemption will be on,” she said.