As our people continue to struggle under the unaddressed high cost of living, I call on the Gaston Browne Administration to grant a full waiver on the payment of Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST) on back-to-school items for two consecutive weekends: Friday 23rd August to Sunday 25th August and Friday 30th August to Sunday 1st September.
Making an early announcement of two weekends of ABST relief will empower all parents to take full advantage, and provide maximum benefits to our students.
Every effort must be made to ensure that there is no reoccurrence of the inconvenience and missed opportunities which resulted from last year’s late announcement of a single weekend of ABST relief.
Further, to ensure maximum benefit to our students, the full ABST waivers should be applied as broadly as possible, to school uniforms, school bags, exercise books and graph books, dictionaries, binders and books covers, stationery, calculators, rulers, geometry sets, lunch kits, and all other critical items required by students.
It must always be recalled that the Prime Minister promised to lower the cost of living, then mercilessly presided over record increases in the cost of goods and services, after the January 18th, 2023 elections.Parents are therefore under an even greater strain during the June to November tourism low season, making adequate back-to-school relief an urgent need.
I therefore call on the Gaston Browne Administration to move with haste to implement this commonsense relief measure to ensure that parents can fully equip our students for success in the new school year
Richard S. Lewis MP
