IslandMix

This is ridiculous....hmm i might end up jumpin in Roberts Manufacturing..

VAT HITS MAS'

Date March 26, 2008
Brief VAT HITS MAS'
by Yvette Best

REVELLERS MAY have to pay as much as $450 to jam down Spring Garden in this year's Grand Kadooment.

The hike is a result of the strict enforcement of the 15 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) charge on costumes.

President of




by YVETTE BEST

REVELLERS MAY HAVE to pay as much as $450 to jam down Spring Garden in this year's Grand Kadooment.

The hike is a result of the strict enforcement of the 15 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) charge on costumes.

President of the Barbados Association of Masqueraders (BAM), Roger Millar, told the MIDWEEK NATION yesterday that the "hard thing" about the new regulation was that VAT had to be paid on costumes that were not sold.

He said the new regulation would force bandleaders to clamp down on concessions and free costumes.

Noting that the average costume ranged from $250 to $400, he said he would not be surprised if the cost went up by $50 more.

However, he did not think the hike would deter would-be revellers, because Barbadians always got "value for money".

Impossible

He said local bands usually offered all-inclusive packages which included costumes, drinks and a meal. He added that bandleaders had been fighting to keep prices down, but it had become "impossible" to maintain lower prices.

"Some bands would not have been registered before, and this will be the first time that all the bands will need to be registered. So you will see an increase across the board in costume prices for some bands.

"Some bands will be able to maintain similar pricing structure, based on the fact they will not be entering the VAT arena for the first time," he said.

Though confirming that VAT was already included in their cost and the new requirement would not adversely affect them or the bigger bands, Chetwyn Stuart of PowerXFour said the authorities might need to look at some form of concessions to encourage more bands to come out, and to help bandleaders who have been contributing to Crop-Over for a number of years.

Multiple-award winning designer Gwyneth Squires said the VAT requirement was "ridiculous".

A peeved Squires complained that designers had not yet purchased a piece of material for costumes "and people talking about VAT".

She said most of the bandleaders did not work and had to pay bills with whatever little income they got. The situation was compounded by the fact that sponsorship was hard to secure.

"If they want to see good bands come out on de road, forget VAT," she cautioned.

Long-time band leader Betty West said an increase was unavoidable, and that it would cause some fallout that would affect the actual mas'.

"It's going to put a damper on us . . . . We're going to have fewer band members and we'll probably have to give away more costumes," West suggested.

The bandleaders said BAM would need to sit down with the relevant authorities to discuss the issue.

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Some men move mountains
Some women move men who move mountains
Most women with mountains move some men
But I...I am a woman who is moved by men who can get through the valley

Queen GodIs

$225US is utterly ridiculus fuh 1 day of playing mas ESPECIALLY when is only rum yuh drinking and not some high grade Johnny Walker...........this might be my last year.......another Summer Carival might be on the horizon fuh next year.

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Once We Have Drinks in We Thermos......Say D Sun Cah Burn Us

Trust me the price of costumes will go up with or without VAT......

Not too sure about Refugees but Baje and PX4 have been charging VAT for sometime........but I am sure their prices will go up anyway cause everyting else going up......

Plus dont let businessess fool u they get to claim back all the VAT they pay....so its the mascaraders that bearing the brunt of the cost of VAT.....

I think the smaller bands worry because they have problems selling costumes in the first place....

but it has nothing to do with cost cause check de road the most expensive bands are the largest

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We going from Sun til Sun.......

vat or no vat...i still paying mas...jus might be playin in d cheap section but dais not a problem long as d music is good and i good some rum in d system I am good to go! carry on

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I have decided to stay on the righteous path. I am monogamous and muh days of flirting are officially behind me. Bless

Well i'll be missing Crop Over this year.....

u know

it still cheaper then tnt so SpringGarden can't miss me

If u do the math tnt mas 500 divide by 2 = 250 so it come out the same.
And depending which band u playing in u don't even get to wear the whole mas both days.

I doh wanna stand pon di side of di road! I didn't buy mi plane ticket 4 dat... I hope to prices r reasonable!! Is the tax prices true or jus rumours though??

The tax thing is true.....

however bands like Baje and PX4 have been adding VAT to their costumes for a couple of years now.....

its just that the government is clamping down on those entities who have NOT been Vat registered and thus NOT adding VAt to their costumes or fetes as they should have........

From recent reports the price hikes in food and deisel have hit bands hard (they say truck rentals for the day have gone up tremendously) and therefore they have adviced that costume prices are going up ......

by how much I dont know........

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We going from Sun til Sun.......

It is true and even so it still cheaper than most carnival/.....

Exactly... $400 is only about £100... Some bands in the Uk charge over £100 just to play mas on 1 day...dont even talk about trinidad... I know ppl pay over £150 for costume in trinidad..

$400 is just expensive for the locals but foreigners or ppl who live abroad.. dat aint much...

for me its $400 divided by 2........and im not concerned bout wearing mas..........its bout top shelf liqor......

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Once We Have Drinks in We Thermos......Say D Sun Cah Burn Us

yuh doh even pay 200US for an all inclusive band in SLU. so coem along and join us.

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jam on some body

dais wah ah like to hear....ah feel next year allyuh go see meh....ah dun invest meh money on dis trip.....ah juss need a rat free zone to stay in

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Once We Have Drinks in We Thermos......Say D Sun Cah Burn Us

........ boi after we have lucian un trinis rats already... i hear dem gurlz from santo domingo doing an invasion.

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jam on some body

u sure about that? J4F VIP is EC$700. u may not see it this yr for other sections but with they way this world wide inflation is going, we gonna hit US$200