–following passage of Tax Amendment Act

REVENUE stamps required to be placed on retail transaction receipts will soon be a thing of the past, as Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh on Tuesday successfully piloted the Tax Amendment Act, Bill Number Nine of 2022 in the National Assembly.

The amendment to the Act removes the requirement to charge stamp duties on receipts issued for retail transactions.

The first reading of the Bill took place on April 13, and the second reading and passage by the National Assembly was done on Tuesday.

This measure that is being implemented forms part of the wide range of relief measures which the government has implemented since its assumption of office on August 2, 2020.

Among measures introduced so far by this administration is the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on water, household necessities, and educational and medical supplies.

Further, measures implemented to increase disposable income included the distribution of $7.5 billion worth of COVID-19 cash grants, while $7.8 billion in flood relief was also distributed to persons most affected by the 2021 floods.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Monday announced four additional relief measures, which include a one-off $25,000 cash grant to every household in riverine and hinterland communities; a $1 billion purchase of fertilizer to be distributed free of cost to farmers; the potential establishment of a home-construction facility, and the removal of VAT from sheetrock and concrete board to aid in the country’s housing and construction drive.

Meanwhile, the VAT amendment of Schedule One, Order 2022-No. 9 of 2022, was also circulated to members of the National Assembly, thereby allowing for the removal of VAT from cement which was announced by Dr. Singh.

The recent removal of VAT from this commodity was also to allow for an ease in hardship to home owners, and those in the construction industry, all in line with the government’s housing and construction policy.

Additionally, Dr. Singh notified the National Assembly (through Government Notice No. 1 of 2022) of the receipt of all petroleum revenues paid into the National Resource Fund (NRF) for the period January 1 to March 31, 2022.

The provision of this information to the National Assembly is in keeping with the requirements of the NRF Act 2021, which came into operation on January1, 2022.