Do ask any restaurant before you order if they do the 16% rip off tax thing and if so say you wont pay it. Many will then say "no tax". One restaurant will have no tax,another will say 10%. Don't pay it.
Do ask any restaurant before you order if they do the 16% rip off tax thing and if so say you wont pay it. Many will then say "no tax". One restaurant will have no tax,another will say 10%. Don't pay it.
There is much misinformation out there about the sales tax and service charges in Jamaica. As Benjamin Franklin said there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes.Originally Posted by Whynot
You can ask for "no tax", but you willl be paying the tax anyway. The government sees to that. The tax is a sales tax, called GCT here. And every Jamaican business is required to pay it.
Some businesses break the tax out of their prices and it is added to the bill, others include them in the price and subtract it out to pay the government. Either way, you are paying the tax.
Because of the business incentives of the past, some long running businesses are allowed to pay a reduced GCT. The two present tiers are 10% and 16.5%.
The incentive 10% only applies to older businesses and that waiver cannot be passed on to new owners. For all newer businesses, the rate is 16.5%. If you check your machine printed receipt at HiLo or most places for that matter, you will notice the GCT as a line item on the receipt.
The only optional charge a restaurant can have is the service charge. This is a charge added to the bill that is split between all hourly employees. This can be thought of as a general tip for all the employees, and you can add what you want for the server on top of that charge.
Do not confuse the service charge with the usual tip you may want the server to get. They will only receive a percentage of that charge based on the number of hours they worked versus the total number of hours worked by all employees.
It is illegal for a business not to pay GCT, which is based on their sales. If you mistakenly think that you are able to pay "no tax" just by asking, you are simply encouraging the restaurant to include the GCT in the price of their meal, increasing the cost by 16.5%.
And this is the reason why the above suggestion will not be added to the do's and dont's list.
Negril.com - For the vacation that never ends!
Do slow down, sip a cold Red Stripe and enjoy the sights and scenery! One of my favorite things is to people watch on the beach. Chat up some of the vendors, and buy fresh fruit as often as you can.
I get the price of the food before I ask about the fake tax....How ? Is the so called "tax" that we pay recorded when you mostly pay in cash with no receipt? I'm not trying to change any laws but ,ya know,many so called "laws" are ignored in Negril. I am not mistakenly thinking I wont pay it because I wont pay it. How come the cab driver doesn't charge 16% or the chicken stand or the small restaurants in the cliffs?
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