BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT is customary during the Christmas and carnival season for many residents of the twin island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis to receive jumbo and other size barrels, as well as large boxes filled with food items and other amenities to suit the household needs.
These barrels and boxes are either sent by family members or friends living abroad or travelling overseas for some time, ordered and shipped or by other means.
Although there are taxes paid on these barrels and boxes of food stuff when they enter the Federation, many residents claim that it is much more economical than purchasing the same items here.
Many persons are of the view that they save a lot more by doing their shopping overseas whether by physically travelling to the other island or by other means like on-line shopping.
In speaking to a number of residents, two of them told this media house that they do not travel but their money does.
Asked to explain what is meant by that statement, one lady said, “We do not travel overseas when we need to do our major shopping. We send our money to family members residing in the USA with a list of what we need and they do our shopping for us, pack one or two barrels and send it down to us. That not only save us time, but it also saves us a lot of money in air fares.”
Another lady explained, "I save a little of my pay every two weeks, and shop online when there are major sales going on. I have the items that I ordered sent to a family member's home and they put them in a barrel and ship them here. It is a whole lot cheaper for me that way".
Many do not see men as regular shoppers, but they, too, take advantage of the online and overseas low prices.
One man said that like women, he too loves shopping, and often travel overseas to do so, not only for the prices, but also for the variety.
"It is very difficult to find stuff meeting my taste and needs here, and whatever I do find is ridiculously high in price, therefore my shopping is done overseas. When I come back to St. Kitts, it is two and three barrels I'm coming back with. I live alone, so that stuff lasts me a very long time and I do not have to face up to the local prices," he enunciated.
With the recent announcement of the food imported into St. Kitts and Nevis during the month of December would be exempted from customs duties and taxes, one can only imagine the amount of persons who would be taking advantage of this 'gift' from the Federation's Prime Minister.
Last week, PM Douglas explained that after discussion between the Ministry of Finance and the Customs Department, Cabinet gave its approval for an EC$1500 allowance on imports during December and the permanent removal of the seven day stay overseas to benefit from the EC$400 allowance.
“Gift packages of food stuff will be allowed. The first 400 pounds of food stuff and packages will be free of duties and taxes for the month of December this year. I understand this translates to be about three barrels of food stuff.
“We were allowing persons who were coming back with goods, that they had to be out [of the country] for seven days for them to benefit from whatever allowance was being made and we have now removed the seven day requirement so that our people can benefit nevertheless,” he stated.
While some are complaining that these 'gift packages' are encouraging individuals to shop outside of the Federation and are therefore sending money outside rather than keeping it here, others are simply taking advantage of the Christmas allowance.
A few individuals told SKNVibes that they were delighted with the announcement and are wasting no time in revelling in the fact that they do not have to pay any taxes on their food stuff, and are going to be "shopping up a storm this season".
Others said that they are going to be bringing in as much barrels as they possibly can on different occasions as they do not know when an opportunity such as this would present itself again, and as many are now saying - they do not know what next year would bring.
SKNVibes contacted the Customs Department to get an idea of just how much persons are actually taking advantage of this allowance but were unsuccessful in retrieving this information.
Tis' the season for major shopping, and there are no duties and taxes on the first 400 pounds of food stuff and packages, so, how many barrels are you expecting for Christmas?
