Easy to say that the study is not credible because "no govt minister was consulted".

How many govt ministers have spoken about VAT? Not one, they just send This Mr. Rolle to deliver studious talk in poorly publicized events.

The reputation of the Nassau institute precedes them, so they just dismiss them. however, they made some good conjectures.

It would be tax neutral if the customs duties ***on goods*** were to be reduced at the same time with VAT.
I asked an accountant the other day, how to price a vat based import. He gave me some calculations, fair enough. Then I asked him, what happens to the inventory that I cleared before July 1st, 2014, since there would be no mechanism to recover duties paid on that. His answer was: you would have to tack on 15%.

It will obviously not be tax neutral on Services. I currently do not pay any tax on my Cable Bahamas bill, so, overnight I will be charged 15%.

I looked at the UK website, and, products ordered online from outside the EU pays Customs duty and VAT o the goods and duty.

A friend from Germany ordered a book from amazon us for fund-raising purposes. The book cost $11.95. After paying duties and VAT and shipping, the book cost him $27.00.

As one who frequently orders online, mostly books and other duty free items, I would love to know if VAT will be charged on online purchases which are currently duty-free.

I feel sorry for the restauranteurs. With one side of their mouth, they say this VAT thing will reduce discriminatory practices, with the other they tax the different restaurant classes in a discriminatory manner.

I am already making preparations for the VAT on restaurant food tho. I will simply stop eating at restaurants and I am already planning how all members of my family will accomplish that.

Let Nygard put in a bid to build the wall.
He has experience building walls in that area.

now, wait a minute, they said the information was coming end of august.
now it is 'early next month' which will be october, right before the referendum.

when people realize most of their bills are going up by 15%, they will march.

The reductions in duty has to come because of the incredible increase in the cost of living. The average import duty is 35%.
Not that they are related
If all goods are 15% higher tomorrow, people would refrain from buying whatever they could and generate unemployment and, the gov itself would lose revenue by failing to collect tax thorughdecreased imports and sales.

Vat could not possibly be income replacement.
Suppose I have a business selling icecream.

Now I would pay let's say 35% duty for the freezer, so much for electricity and so much for my employee. The freezer will last 5 years and I price the icecream to recoup my investment.

Under vat, suppose the govt reduces the duty to 15%, I pay so much + 15% for electricity, and so much for my employee. The freezer will last 5 years and I price the icecream to recoup my investment.

Surely 15% customs duty plus 15% on electricity for a lifetime will be more than the 35% previous customs duty. The govt will also make more because everytime the customer buys my icecream, the govt gets a bite, which it did not get before.

I think I am being robbed.

like a mashed potato, I can do the twist

August month's end is here, they did no deliver.

I rarely agree with what this writer has to say. I believe the thinktank he is a part of is always trying to make me poorer.

This time, the govt is trying to make me poorer. I really do believe that there will be an increase in price of goods, how much depends on the willingness of the govt to reduce customs duties.

What I don't understand is this: with customs duty, the govt gets his money upfront, while with vat, the govt collects a reduced customs duties and collects vat when and if the goods get sold. So it seems to me that revenues will drop in the short term.

You don't give up certainty for uncertainty so I think we will be flogged with customs duty plus vat.

As for the tax on services, yes all the examples this writes proposes are currently not taxed, so we will be poorer and have less discretionary income.

You remind me of the electrician we used to hire.
He always delivered written estimates of the job which started with
"upon careful study, the cost for changing a lightbolb is xxxx"
After all the study was completed, he would then discovr all manners of problems and take 4-5 trips to the hardware store to fix things that he did not have the foresight to investigate.
He no longer works for us.