Agricultural Items and Funeral Expenses to be Zero-Rated from GCT

As of June 1, a number of agricultural items will once again be zero-rated from General Consumption Tax (GCT).
The zero-rated items include animal feed, machetes, planting material, including cereals and seeds, fishing apparatus, fertilizer, herbicides, and insecticides.
Making the announcement at the opening of the 2006/07 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives today (April 27), Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies acknowledged that the sector had “taken a beating” over the past two years.
During that period, the agricultural sector was severely affected by three hurricanes, notably Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
The Minister also announced that as of June 1, funeral expenses of $100,000 and less would be zero-rated for GCT purposes.
He said even as the government sought to rationalize the tax system to facilitate greater equity and ease in auditing, there were special cases deserving special attention and the GCT application on funeral expenses was one such case.
Dr. Davies said, however, that steps had to be taken to ensure that the exemption was not abused by dishonest persons. The GCT on funeral expenses was introduced on May 1, 2003.