Barbados Finance Minister Chris Sinckler says the plan to impose a new tax on cellular phone calls is still on the table, but a different method will be used to collect the Value Added Tax (VAT).
Earlier this year, the government had an initial plan of a three-cent tax on mobile airtime. However, on Wednesday, Sinckler proposed a 4.5 per cent rise in the VAT on mobile phone service, to take effect from January 1st, 2016, raising the tax from 17.5 per cent to 22 per cent.
The Finance Minister told the Barbados Today publication, that the previous plan was proving too difficult and expensive for the telecommunications companies to implement.
He said the additional tax will raise between 15 and 16 million Barbados dollars, but the original plan would have cost Barbadians twice as much.
