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People are hearing more and more about the upcoming General Sales Tax (GST), but many say the more they hear, the more confused they are.
It is indeed a complex issue, but one that everyone should understand. Let's give it a try.
GST is in used by almost 150 countries worldwide, largely because of globalization, as countries strive to become more competitive on the world market. In Europe, GST is generally called Value Added Tax.
GST is a consumption tax, which means it is paid by the final consumer (for our purposes, the tourist) but collected in bits and pieces along the chain of supplies and services before reaching the consumer. More

The British government supports poverty reduction and good governance efforts. The largest part of that is the Commonwealth Debt Initiative where the British make annual reviews of the government's progress in key areas to see if it will continue with debt relief programs. According to the Minister of Economic Development Mark Espat, we've again passed the test. More

By the end of this month, 40,000 barrels of Belizean crude oil will be loaded onto a barge enroute to the U.S. gulf coast for refining. And while a crush of tankers continue to truck oil from Spanish Lookout to the port in Big Creek, drilling has started on a third well. Prospects for the Mike Usher #3 are similar as to the previous two. But Belize's point man on oil, Geology Inspector Andre Cho, says it will be another 18 months before we know if there are commercial quantities in Belize. More

The Chamber has gone to the Supreme Court to show government that it can find plenty of missing revenue in BELIPO and its register of private companies. On behalf of the Chamber, Senior Counsel Lois Young has applied for permission to file to have the court set aside the decision of Cabinet when it resolved not to recover all revenue collected by the companies register between 2003 and 2005. More

One of the puzzles if you're in the news business is figuring out what's "news." The fate of your local football team certainly fits the definition. So does a plane crash or a brutal murder. But how about changes in the migratory patterns of butterflies? Scientists believe that new habitats for butterflies are early effects of global climate change -- but that isn't news, by most people's measure. Neither is declining rainfall in the Amazon, or thinner ice in the Arctic. We can't see these changes in our personal lives, and in that sense, they are abstractions. More

Carlos, my driver, was a former federal policeman. He weighed a good two hundred pounds and was well over six feet. He was assigned to me by a local businessman whom I knew in Guatemala City after I explained that I wanted to visit some areas where I could see gang activity. When we arrived at the tianguis or local market, he pulled over the Ford Explorer and opened the glove compartment. He unclipped his automatic from his belt, and put it inside along with his wallet. “Take a few bills out of your wallet and then put it inside the glove box was well,” he said. Then he locked the glove compartment.
“If it’s so dangerous here,” I asked, “why don’t you take your gun?” “Because kids operate in packs of five or six. Twelve and thirteen-year olds, they rush you and take whatever you have, and are gone before you even have time to react. That’s how quick they are. And we don’t need another automatic weapon on the streets.” More

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