June 26th, 2016 (Nassau, Bahamas) – Business owners and the general public are reminded that Value Added Tax (VAT) inclusive pricing should be fully adopted for the pricing of all items in The Bahamas and that only VAT registrants are permitted to charge VAT.
It is illegal for non-registrants to charge VAT and offenders will be subject to prosecution.
The Department of Inland Revenue is pleased with the compliance efforts of Bahamian businesses and the public can expect heightened enforcement efforts to ensure continued compliance with the law. All businesses that are registrants should be displaying VAT inclusive prices on all sale items.
Consumers are asked to be vigilant and ensure that VAT Certificates are conspicuously displayed. The VAT Certificate has the VAT watermark as oppose to the TIN Only Certificate, which has the Coat of Arms.
How to properly display VAT-inclusive prices
VAT registrants must indicate that the price is VAT-inclusive by use of price tags, tickets, bin tags, signs or other methods to display individual prices. For breadbasket items, the price tag must be placed on each individual item. Individually tagging each item with the tax-inclusive price is always an acceptable method.
In order to meet the requirement, you must:
- State that the price is VAT-inclusive, e.g. “$107.50 VAT inclusive”; or
- State that the price is VAT-inclusive along with the amount of VAT, e.g. “$107.50, including $7.50 VAT”
The following methods do not meet the requirements for VAT-inclusive price display:
- A display of a VAT-exclusive price alone e.g. “$100”; or
- A statement that the price is VAT-exclusive e.g. “$100 (excluding VAT)”; or
- A statement that the price is VAT-exclusive and that VAT will be added.
Non-compliance is a serious offence and may result in fines upward to $75,000.
For further information, visit the Department of Inland Revenue’s website at www.inlandrevenue.finance.gov.bs, email taxinquiries@bahamas.gov.bs or call (242) 461-8050 or toll-free at 225-7280. Also, feel free to visit DIRBahamas on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
