While many local stores are in the process of getting rid of their old stock before Value Added Tax (VAT) is implemented on May 1, at least one business house has indicated that they will not be charging their customers VAT.

Manager of China Town, Joy Timothy told SEARCHLIGHT that although they will pay the Government VAT on all items sold, they only intend to charge their customers the regular prices for their goods.{{more}}

Timothy however stated that while most of the items they have in stock are relatively new, they are in the process of selling out the old items that are in the store.

A quick check around Kingstown revealed that China Town is not the only store that is not having a Pre-VAT sale. SEARCHLIGHT spoke with another store manager who indicated that although his business was having a sale, it did not have anything to do with the implementation of VAT.

Despite this, several other stores are in the process of trying to reduce their stock levels by giving discount prices on most of the items that are in store, with varying results.

On Wednesday, a clerk at the Jax Enterprises Ltd told SEARCHLIGHT that even with their pre-VAT sale, things are going slowly except at the Cheapside Department where they are offering discounts of over 75% on some items.

She however stated that the slow sales in the other sections of the store could be due to a number of factors including customers not having money, competition and the fact that many of the items they carry are seasonal.

While this may be the experience at Jax Enterprises, for some other stores such as the Modern Place, sales have been going well.

Manager of the Modern Place Lunetta Bailey told SEACHLIGHT that they have been having their sale since February and by next week they will be slashing some of their prices even further to half price.

However, despite good sales, Bailey said that she believes that all of the stocks will not be cleared out by the end of the month, but she is hoping that the majority of the stocks will have gone.

The main aim of all the business places having the sales boils down to the same thing, however: To get rid of all stock on which consumption tax has already been paid so that when VAT is implemented, consumers will not pay a tax on goods that have already been taxed.