by Curlan Campbell
- Retail store on St John Street raided by Customs and Excise Division
- Store reported to be suspected of engaging in underinvoicing imported goods
- Underinvoicing can cause government to lose thousands in revenue
A retail store on the lower end of St John Street, St George’s was raided on the morning of Thursday, 23 January 2020 by officers from the Customs and Excise Division, as well as officers from other law enforcement divisions of the police force.
The management of Basel Store, one of many retail stores on the street, is reported to be suspected of engaging in underinvoicing goods imported into the country.
“Underinvoicing is the practice of stating the price of goods on an invoice as being less than the price actually paid. Underinvoicing occurs when the importer wants to reduce a tariff to reduce their apparent profits to pay less in taxes.”
– Farlex Financial Dictionary
A Customs official is yet to publicly comment on the raid but it is understood that the crackdown by the authorities is part of efforts to combat what appears to be a growing trend among some business owners.
Grenada’s law provides for steep penalties for those who are found guilty of engaging in the act which can cause government to lose thousands in revenue. The Customs and Excise Department is one of the main revenue earners for government.
NOW Grenada is not responsible for the opinions, statements or media content presented by contributors. In case of abuse, click here to report.
There are also the stores in the Esplanade that refuse to give you your Duty Free Receipt which they must by Law. Also lying and cheating saying they will only take cash when you have previously used your credit cards buying there,
They want to hack up their prices and make thousands of dollars while they scheme to defraud the Government, but everything is for a time..
don’t talk too hard
Yes wee papa.
Another case of not being aware of the policies of your country, these people dont have a clue that they can get 25 year tax breaks! And then create a new brand to get another 25 years! (Crap! this applies to investors not stores)
These small busineses think that tax too high, they love to complain about the tax, stating that when they add the various pieces of tax it is almost 50% or more on good imported.
Then continie to complain that they have to pay stamp tax thereafter, and for some they pay ³ VAT
They futher complain that customers, will stupes when they see the price of goods 2 time more than on amazon.com
Small man pay your tax and stop under invoicing. Just take the risk and let your business fail, then go back to your land and plant the fig and nutmeg and cocoa. No import tax here, no under invoicing.
Agriculture wins every day.