Vendors in the busy Coronation Market, downtown Kingston. Government's announcement that ground provisions would be subject to GCT had many pondering their future. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

"A WHA yuh a seh to mi?" asked Rema incredulously as The Sunday Gleaner asked her about the 17.5 per cent general consumption tax (GCT) which has been slapped on ground provisions.

Rema was one of the first vendors we ran into at Coronation Market. "Mi nuh read nuh paper from mawnin," she explained when we asked how she had missed the news.

She was not the only one who had not heard of the tax that would be placed on their goods as of January.

Those who had heard were agitated when The Sunday Gleaner sought their reactions.

"Dis is jus' di beginning," said Donna, whose stall was a few metres away. "Anyting dem do now, mi nuh surprise because it is the end of times. Di Bible did talk 'bout dem tings yah," she continued.

daunting task

This elicited a few laughs in her section, but the reality of the situation began to hit home soon. The prospect of having to make the necessary additions to their regular prices was daunting.

"Mi can't calculate dem deh ting deh!" Rema lamented. "Dem tings nah go work out! We suggested that they get receipt books to do their calculations. They were having none of it. The vendors also expressed fear that their customers, who were already finding it hard, would simply take their business elsewhere.

"Like mi have carrot now. When you sell a pound fi $30, dem can barely buy it. Now tax?" Rema wailed. Her sentiments are echoed by Doris.

"Mi have my cabbage. Mi buy it (from the farmer) for $40, and sell it fi $50. It rough. Wid di tax now, dem a go step pon wi tings dem and go weh." Some of the vendors admitted they could neither read nor write properly and weren't good at math, so figuring out what to charge would be nearly impossible. Customers we spoke to were sympathetic to the vendors.

"They would have to put up a list with all the items that now have tax, that is the first thing. But then, the average Jamaican doesn't know how to calculate those things. Furthermore, the market varies. You will get one price for like bananas over here, but another price over there," said Camille. Her friend Sandrathought the Government was being cruel to tax vendors in light of the high salaries consultants were receiving.

"Even a little man who is hungry and wants to buy a bulla? Now they've taxed that, too!" However, while feeling for the vendors, they were not prepared to pay more.

"I am not paying more for ground provisions," Sandra said bluntly. "I will pay for the electricity because I use that every day. I've kind of calculated how much I have to pay already."

Philip Grant, another buyer who we overheard explaining to vendors how the tax would work, was equally defiant. "Mi love yam an' a months now mi nuh eat none. If it reach all some price, mi naah buy it! Afta a nuh it one mi eat!"

The already vexatious issue was exacerbated when we reminded them that at year's end, the tax collectors would call on them at the end of every year.

"How dem a go tax wi and dem nuh know wha' wi sell?" asked Rema. "Rememba, yuh don't sell di same price fi di whole year!"

Rema and other vendors were convinced they would be the ones who got squeezed as the tax man would probably take too much.

"Dem can jus' come and gi wi a price. A rob dem a go rob wi now!"

Names changed on request.

Tax clarification

The Tax Administration Department (TAD) has since clarified that market vendors will not have to charge GCT.

"It should be noted that only businesses with projected sales over the GCT threshold of $3 million and are registered taxpayers will be required to charge GCT.

"Therefore, business persons, such as small farmers, market and roadside vendors and other small operators, whose projected annual sales are below the $3 million GCT threshold and are not registered, will not be required to collect GCT," the TAD said in a release.