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| Prospective Barbadian Homeowners Encouraged With VAT Concession |
by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London
Monday, January 26, 2009
Barbados’s government has announced that it is seeking to put in place tax relief for first-time low-income homeowners in the form of value-added tax concessions.
As part of the government’s initiative to increase housing on the island,
Minister for Education and Human Resources, Ronald Jones announced the introduction
of the Value-Added Tax (Amendment) bill into the House of Assembly on January 20. The concession
will allow people who invest in having their first house built to claim back
7% of their VAT bill, providing their house is worth less than USD150,000.
It is hoped that the new measure, which is part of the government's Housing
Every Last Person (HELP) initiative, will encourage Barbadian nationals to build
their own homes instead of relying solely on the government to increase housing stock.
Speaking to the House of Assembly Ronald Jones said: “After very careful
examination, one has been able to put in place the start of sustainable delivery
of a promise made to the citizens of Barbados in the 2008 budget bill. The careful
examination of the impact of such an amendment to the VAT Bill demonstrated
to us, that persons who are most vulnerable, persons who are most disadvantaged,
persons who have been shut out of getting affordable housing, this particular
measure would assist in facilitating them achieving the objective of owning
their own ‘part of Barbados'.”
Jones explained that the concessions are expected to aid potential homeowners by
as much as USD10,000, further stating: “there are many people who have
built homes and it takes them an extremely long time to put in place those things
that are necessary for their own comfort. This is an important gesture. This
gives low-income workers an opportunity to own a home, an opportunity for persons
to pool their resources for the benefit of their families."
The government hopes that the concessions will also increase employment on Barbados by providing increased
demand for both its construction and home-furnishing industries, which should,
in time, offset the cost of the initiative.
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