The following was received as a Letter to the Editor from a Tamara T. Hayes
I was appalled when I heard the definition given by the Minister of Finance, during his budgetary proposals, for “timeshare”. I was of the view that the Minister of Finance was subjected to the laws of this country and therefore any definition given to any item should be in accordance with the laws of Barbados. Section 2 of the Tourism Development Act Cap. 341 defines “timeshare Property” as a complex of at least 10 rooms that offers advanced purchase of vacation time for a particular period or interval, thereby affording the purchaser the right to enjoy a variety of services and facilities, subject only to a further payment of an annual contribution towards the maintenance of the property, where the property is registered with the Barbados Tourism Authority.
According the above definition ‘timeshare” is a taxable supply under the Value Added Tax Act Cap 87 and is subject to pay VAT at the concessionary rate of 8.75%. As a result any inputs incurred in relation to this supply are deductible.
The scenario outlined by the Minister of Finance in his budget is the approach adopted by registrants who seek to evade VAT. I was abhorred to think that a Minister of Finance would associate with such activities. I strongly believe that he should be asked to resign. There is no excuse for such behavior.
I was also disappointed that the members of the opposition did not address this most absurd behavior. This certainly is a reflection of the poor quality of representation the electorate is receiving.
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