Business houses should be prepared for VAT-Free Day – Chamber of Commerce head

by GRACE FRANCIS

WITH THE FIRST EVERVAT free day to be held in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) on Friday, December 19, 2025, Executive Director of the SVG Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Anthony Regisford, has highlighted how it will impact businesses.

“The businesses should see an increase in sales and if they see an increase in sales that’s always good,” Regisford told SEARCHLIGHT.

He said the VAT-free day is a possible 16% discount from eligible goods such as consumer electronics, household appliances, food and beverages, clothing and footwear, furniture, building materials, automotive parts, cosmetics and toiletries and general merchandise.

Excluded from the list are goods procured on hire purchase, prepared meals and beverages at hotels, guest houses, restaurants and other similar establishments, firearms and ammunition, motor vehicles, services of any kind including tourism and hospitality, and tobacco products. Regisford said “the more complicated part is going to be how the businesses anticipate the magnitude of the sales”.

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