THE TAX Administration Department is advising the public that the new General Consumption Tax (GCT) rate of 16.5 per cent becomes effective on May 1, 2005.
Under the General Consumption Act, the following goods remain non-taxable:
Meat
Ground provision
Cooking oil
Onions and garlic
Corn
Wheat
Sugar and rice
Patties (vegetable or beef)
Syrup
School uniforms and school bags
Breads, buns, bullas, biscuits and crackers
Sanitary towels and tampons
Poultry
Eggs
Legumes
Soyameal
Corned beef
Salt
Rolled oats
Fish, cock and noodle soups in aluminum sachets
Baking flour(less than 45.3 kilo)
Infant formulae
Canned sardines, herrings and mackerel
Travel tickets for international use
Also included are cornmeal and counter flour made from cereal containing thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and iron, but no other additives; milk (including condensed and powdered skimmed), but excluding flavoured milk, milk-based products and milk substitutes; fish, crustaceans and mollusc, which contain no additives and are not subject to any process other than freezing, chilling, salting, or packaging, slicing, mincing, grinding, dicing or chopping or natural dying (excluding the juicing of fruits).
Included on the list are pickled mackerel, herring, shad, and dried salted fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, excluding imported apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, sloes, grapes, and kiwis, quinces, apricots, cherries and food produced exclusively for school feeding programmes.
