By Robert A. Emmanuel
Following on from the busiest time for restaurants and businesses across the island, having to readjust prices in line with a 2 percent ABST hike had been a challenge, according to some entrepreneurs.
Restaurants were informed on December 22nd of the hike which allowed them just three business days to put it into effect on January 1st.
In Antigua and Barbuda, ABST must be reflected in the displayed prices and not added to the bill as in, for example, the United States.
Alex Grimley, who owns four restaurants in Antigua including Sheer Rocks and Catherine’s Café, told Observer that this short time frame “gave us no time to change the calculation in the point of sale system which has to be done manually.”
“Imagine having to do that overnight on New Year Eve, so you have to do that at 3 am after you just finished cleaning up a packed restaurant before you open in the morning,” Grimley explained.
For many businesses still licking their wounds from the pandemic, the sudden increase has cut into their already reduced profit margins.
“Generally, the average spend per head is off by a few percent but if we consider in the last year, prices have gone up, pretty much everything is in double figures due to inflation,” he noted.
Compounding the prolems is last year’s weak pound that has left many visitors from Britain – the country’s second biggest tourism source market – with less cash to spend.
And on top of all that, Grimley says the country’s high import duties are crippling business further.
“I think certain goods, yes, needs to be considered how much we are going to charge the duty because I think putting it on all the shipping, packaging and everything, you know, it’s great to see record numbers at the port, generating tax money and I hope that’s well spent.
“But I think to do that, for the sake of generating extra money, I think is short-sighted,” he complained.