BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - LAST Thursday (Dec. 15), while wrapping up the debate on the Appropriation 2012 Bill, 2011 in the House of Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas announced the reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) for just one day.
This coming Thursday (Dec. 22), dubbed "Black Thursday", stores meeting the required approval will be giving customers a 10 percent reduction in VAT for that 24-hour period.
This decision for the seven percent VAT day, came after the Prime Minister had discussions with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce who felt that the Cabinet’s approval of an EC$1 500 allowance on imports during December and the permanent removal of the seven-day stay overseas to benefit from the EC$400 allowance favoured overseas shopping only.
The Prime Minister subsequently announced: “After listening to the members of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, led by the President himself, Mr. Morton, we have agreed that we shall have that day, December 22nd…Black Thursday… one minute after Midnight to 11:59 p.m. on Thursday night, we shall remove 10 percent from VAT on all shopping that will be done on that day.
“All goods that are being sold on that day will be not at 17 percent VAT but at seven percent VAT only. And when I say goods, I mean goods; food in particular, building material, appliances…”
On that note, SKNVibes presents another update on what is going on in the business arena.
COURTS - Courts continues its 12 days of Christmas with today (Dec. 20) being bonus stash of cash day. Persons who spend EC$99 or more today will receive double entries for stash of cash with one lucky shopper being selected for the draw.
Tomorrow (Dec. 21) is double day! Shoppers purchasing anything for EC$499 or more will receive a choice of double free gifts or double vouchers for ham.
KAJOLA KRISTADA - Ten members of the staff of Kajola Kristada Ltd. (KK) were, on Wednesday (Dec. 14), presented with certificates for their passing of Basic Technical Math, at the second Kajola Kristada School Graduation Ceremony.
DIGICEL - This year, Digicel is giving customers a chance to win EC$150 000 in its 'GRABCASH' Christmas promotion. Customers qualify by simply topping up their prepaid handsets with $15 or more and collect letters to spell ‘GRABCASH’, pay 50 percent or more of their Digicel postpaid bill, purchase a new BlackBerry handset with sim card, or activate any prepaid plan or sign up for a new postpaid account.
Every Friday, winners enter the Cash Vault and grab cash, free credit, BlackBerry Smart Phones, high-end handsets, restaurant vouchers and other prizes. Customers on other networks also have a chance to grab cash and prizes.
TDC - This Saturday (Dec. 24), Santa Claus will be coming to the City Drug Store (CDS). Between the hours of three and four, Santa Claus will be giving away treats to little children, and parents who spend EC$25 or more in the store will get a chance to have their child/children's photo taken with Santa.
Parents who do not spend the EC$25 can also have their child/children's photo taken with Santa for a small fee.
CDS will also be having a store wide discount on that day, along with shopper vouchers and giveaways. Store hours will be extended from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Finco continues their loan promotion. Customers have the luxury of borrowing up to EC$10 000 with no processing fee, lower interest rate, and waived first payment. Borrow from Finco and qualify to win EC$5 000 in cash. Offer ends December 31.
Walk in and drive out at TDC’s Automotive Division this December! This Christmas season the Division is offering free licensing, registration, air freshener, mats, and undercoating. Customers will also get EC$1 000 cash back, two free tanks of gas plus their choice of a refrigerator, stove or desktop.
Also, the Automotive Division continues their special on Sunew Tyres. Purchase three high performance tyres and get one free.
TDC is also having an ongoing Hire Purchase promotion where they will be offering the lowest interest rate in the Federation. Customers will enjoy lower payments on their installments. Persons who take items on hire purchase will also get three entries to win EC$5 000.
LIME - This Christmas, LIME is offering a lifetime of free services to 21 extremely lucky persons. The telecommunications company will be giving twenty individuals one of the following services – landline, mobile or internet free for forty years.
Four persons will win landline service; eight will win free internet service while another eight will win free mobile service. In addition to these prizes, LIME will also be giving a grand prize to one very lucky person who will win all three services absolutely free also for the next forty years.
Customers who top-up $10 or more, purchase a mobile phone, sign-up for LIME post-paid service, upgrade any existing mobile or internet service, or pay their post-paid or landline bill on time and in full, will automatically be entered for a chance to win.
There you have it for this week’s Business Update. If you are interested in having your information featured in our weekly articles, be sure it is emailed to editor@sknvibes.com.
