B.E.L. and government agree on G.S.T. refund

After a whole lot of to and fro it appears that B.E.L. and the government of Belize have finally settled their differences over G.S.T. According to a release from the Ministry of Finance B.E.L. has agreed to facilitate the refund of June G.S.T. payments erroneously billed in July by issuing a pro-rated credit on future bills. So, for example, if your current light bill covers the period June third through July fourth, you will pay the full bill, including any G.S.T. charged, but the next month you will receive a credit for the portion of the G.S.T. incurred during June. In this case that means a refund for twenty-four out of the thirty-one days of the billing period. In its release the Ministry of Finance expresses its appreciation to B.E.L. for its cooperation. The ill-fated decision to charge for the June consumption was apparently made by the Ministry’s G.S.T. unit, not B.E.L. The ten percent tax on a wide range of goods and services came into force on July first. In the case of electricity it applies to all monthly bills totally over one hundred fifty dollars.