The following is a list of items which will now attract General Consumption Tax (GCT), based on the changes announced by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies, in the Budget Debate last Thursday.
AGRICULTURE
ANIMAL FEEDS (except pet food), hog wire, mesh wire and barbed wire (which the Commissioner of Taxes is satisfied are purchased solely for use in agricultural activities). Also to be taxed will be tractors and implements for attachment thereto, irrigation equipment, fishing apparatus, gear, boats, engines, equipment, planting material, including cereals and seeds in their natural state; dormant flower bulbs, corns, roots and tubers, nursery stock, which the Commissioner is satisfied is intended for commercial purposes. Vegetable plants and live trees which the Commissioner is satisfied are intended for commercial purposes.
Fishing apparatus, gear, boats, engines, equipment and parts therefor which the Commissioner is satisfied are imported or purchased by or on behalf of or taken out of bond by commercial fishermen solely for use by them in the capture of fish for sale.
Fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, plant growth regulators, nematicides, rodenticides, veterinary preparations, and molluscides.
Insecticides which the Commissioner is satisfied are intended for use exclusively in agriculture. Also missing from the tax exempt are fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides, plant growth regulators, nematicides, rodenticides, veterinary preparations, and molluscides. Insecticides which the Commissioner is satisfied are intended for use exclusively in agriculture.
HEALTH
Drugs used primarily in the treatment of asthma; (b) diagnostic reagents used for the testing of dextrose in the blood and glucose, protein, ketones and pH in the urine; (c) of the following- (i) topical anti-fungal preparations; (ii) scabicides and pedicuticides; (iii) anthelmintics; (iv) haemorrhoidal preparations in ointment or suppository form; (v) topical analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents; (vii) surgical gloves, including disposable, sterile and those made of latex rubber.
Any medical, dental, surgical, ophthalmic or veterinary instruments or components; orthopaedic appliances, surgical belts, trusses, splints and other fracture appliances, artificial limbs, eyes, teeth and other artificial body parts, hearing aids, other appliances which are worn or carried or implanted in the body to compensate for any bodily defect or disability canes and crutches designed for use by the handicapped and eye glasses and contact lenses used for the treatment or correction of a defect in vision on the written prescription of an eye-care professional; laboratory appliances (including electro-medical apparatus) and apparatus used for X-rays or radiation X-rays or radiation from radio-active substances; water quality monitoring equipment and seals and equipment used by health-care personnel parts and accessories for any of the foregoing.
Medical and surgical prostheses including surgical implants and ileostomy, colostomy and similar abilities designed to be worn by human beings.
Artificial breathing apparatus for individuals afflicted with respiratory disorder. Any medical equipment approved by the Chief Medical Officer Bandages and gauze. Goods (excluding motor vehicles, other than ambulances) which are acquired by or on behalf of - (a) the Jamaican branch of the Red Cross Society, and the St. John's Ambulance Brigade which the Commissioner is satisfied are necessary for the rendering of their services; or (b) the University Hospital of the West Indies or any private hospital (which, in the case of veterinary hospitals, are approved by the Minister of Agriculture and which in any other case, are approved by the Minister of Health) which the Commissioner is satisfied - (i) are equipment for use solely in or by such hospitals and are necessary for the proper functioning thereof; or (ii) are building materials for use solely in the construction, alteration or extension of such hospitals. Supply of services by a private hospital (including veterinary hospitals approved by the Minister of Agriculture and medical and dental diagnostic centres and laboratories approved by of Health).
