Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

2.   Interpretation

In this Act —

“approved charitable organisation” means an organisation designated as an approved charitable organisation by the Minister in accordance with the Regulations;

“association not for gain” means an institution of religious worship, society, association, or organisation which is — (Amended by Act 10 of 2012)

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   (a)     carried on otherwise than for the purposes of profit or gain to any proprietor, member, or shareholder; and

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   (b)     in terms of its memorandum, articles of association, written rules, or other document constituting or governing its activities —

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      (i)     required to utilize any assets or income solely in the furtherance of its aims and objects, and

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      (ii)     prohibited from transferring any portion of its assets or income directly or indirectly so as to benefit any person other than by way of the provision of charitable assistance, religious worship, or the payment in good faith of reasonable remuneration to any of its officers or employees for any services actually rendered to it, and

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      (iii)     upon its winding-up or liquidation, is obliged to give or transfer its assets remaining after the satisfaction of its liabilities to another institution of religious worship, society, association or organisation having similar objects;

“auctioneer” means a person engaged in a taxable activity that includes the supply of goods by auction as an auctioneer or agent for or on behalf of another person;

“business” means any business, profession, trade, venture or undertaking and includes the provision of personal services or technical and managerial skills and any adventure or concern in the nature of trade but does not include any employment;

“capital goods” means an asset, or a component of an asset, which is of a character subject to an allowance for depreciation or comparable deduction for income tax purposes, and which is used in the course or furtherance of a taxable activity;

“cash” includes coins, bills, a cheque, debit card and credit card payments;

“cash value”, in relation to a supply of goods under a credit agreement, means —

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   (a)     where the seller or lessor is a bank or other financial institution, an amount equal to the sum of —

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      (i)     the consideration paid by the bank or other financial institution for the goods or the fair market value of the supply of the goods to the bank or other financial institution, whichever is the greater, and

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      (ii)     any consideration for erection, construction, assembly, or installation of the goods borne by the bank or other financial institution, or

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   (b)     where the seller or lessor is a dealer, an amount equal to the sum of —

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      (i)     the consideration at which the goods are normally sold by the dealer for cash, and

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      (ii)     any consideration for erection, construction, assembly, or installation of the goods borne by the dealer;

“company” means a body corporate, wherever incorporated, but does not include a partnership or an unincorporated body of persons;

“Comptroller” means the Comptroller of Inland Revenue referred to under the Income Tax Act;

“Comptroller of Customs” means the Comptroller of Customs referred to under section 4 of the Customs (Control and Management) Act;

“consideration”, in relation to a supply or import of goods or services, means the total amount in money or kind paid or payable, including a deposit on a returnable container, for the supply or import by any person, directly or indirectly, including any duties, levies, fees, and charges, other than tax payable under this Act, paid or payable on, or by reason of, the supply or import, reduced by any price discounts or rebates allowed and accounted for at the time of the supply or import, but does not include —

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   (a)     a cash payment made by any person as an unconditional gift to an association not for gain; or

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   (b)     a deposit, other than a deposit on a returnable container, whether refundable or not, given in connection with a supply of goods or services unless and until the supplier applies the deposit as consideration for the supply or such deposit is forfeited;

“Constituency Council” or “Council” means a body of local representatives who have been appointed in accordance with section 4 of Constituency Council Act;

“credit agreement” means a hire-purchase agreement or a finance lease;

“Customs (Control and Management) Act” means the Customs (Control and Management) Act;

“Customs Tariff Headings” means the headings in the Customs Common External Tariff, as amended;

“days” when used in the plural, means working days, except as otherwise provided;

“dealer” means a person who buys goods from a manufacturer or producer and sells the goods for wholesale or retail;

“documents” include electronic documents;

“Eastern Caribbean Dollar” or “$” means, except as otherwise provided in this Act, EC$ or XCD$;

“entry”, in relation to goods imported, is to be construed within the meaning of “entered” in the Customs (Control and Management) Act;

“exempt import” has the meaning in section 21;

“exempt supply” means a supply of goods or services to which section 17 applies;

“fair market value” has the meaning in section 3;

“finance lease”, in relation to goods, means a lease of goods where —

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   (a)     the lease term exceeds 75% of the expected life of the goods; or

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   (b)     the lease provides for transfer of ownership at the end of the lease term or the lessee has an option to purchase the goods for a fixed or determinable price at the expiration of the lease; or

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   (c)     the estimated residual value of the goods to the lessor at the expiration of the lease term, including the period of any option to renew, is less than 20% of its fair market value at the commencement of the lease; or

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   (d)     the leased goods are custom-made for the lessee and at the end of the lease term will not be usable by anyone other than the lessee;

“game of chance” includes a raffle or lottery, or the playing of a table game or gaming machine;

“goods” mean real or tangible personal property, thermal or electrical energy, heat, gas, refrigeration, air conditioning and water, but does not include money;

“hire-purchase agreement” means a hire-purchase agreement under the Consumer Credit Act;

“import” means —

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   (a)     in the case of goods, bringing or causing to be brought into Saint Lucia; or

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   (b)     in the case of services, a supply of services to a resident —

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      (i)     by a non-resident, or

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      (ii)     by a resident from a business carried on by the resident outside Saint Lucia,

to the extent that such services are not to be utilised or consumed by a registered person in making taxable supplies in Saint Lucia;

“import declaration” means the declaration documents required for the entry of goods into Saint Lucia;

“importer”, in relation to an import of goods, has the meaning assigned in the Customs (Control and Management) Act;

“Income Tax Act” means the Income Tax Act;

“input tax” means tax paid or payable under this Act in respect of a taxable supply to, or an import of goods by, a taxable person;

“invoice” means a document notifying an obligation to make a payment;

“lease” has the meaning given in article 1509 of the Civil Code of the Revised Laws of Saint Lucia 1957;

“local authority” means a local authority under the local authority (Repealed by Cap. 17.19);

“Minister” means the Minister responsible for Finance;

“money” means —

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   (a)     a coin or paper currency recognised in Saint Lucia as legal tender;

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   (b)     a coin or paper currency of a foreign country that is used or circulated as currency; or

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   (c)     a bill of exchange, promissory note, bank draft, postal order, money order, or similar instrument other than an item of numismatic interest;

“non-resident” means a person who is not a resident and a person referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “resident” to the extent that the person is not a resident;

“output tax”, in relation to a taxable person, means the tax chargeable on a taxable supply made by that person;

“person” includes the State, a public authority, a local authority, a natural person, trust, company, partnership and an unincorporated body of persons;

“promoter of public entertainment” means a person who arranges the staging of public entertainment, but does not include entertainment organised by —

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   (a)     a duly recognised educational institution under the Education Act;

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   (b)     the board of management or a parent teacher association of an approved educational institution;

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   (c)     a person who provides entertainment on a daily or weekly basis;

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   (d)     a church incorporated or registered in Saint Lucia under any statute; or

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   (e)     an approved charitable organisation;

“public authority” includes any entity for the purposes of this Act-

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   (a)     established by or under the Constitution of Saint Lucia 1978;

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   (b)     established by statute;

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   (c)     which forms part of any level or branch of Government;

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   (d)     owned, controlled or substantially financed by funds provided by the Government or the State; or

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   (e)     carrying out a statutory or public authority function,

except that a body is a public authority only to the extent of its statutory or public functions;

“public entertainment” means any musical entertainment, theatrical performance, comedy, dance performance, circus, show or any similar event to which the public is invited;

“recipient”, in relation to a supply or import, means the person to whom the supply or import is made or in the case of an import of goods, for whom the goods are intended;

“registered recipient” means a registered person receiving a taxable supply;

“registered supplier” means a registered person making a taxable supply;

“Registrar of Lands” means the Registrar of Lands under section 5 of the Land Registration Act;

“Regulations” means Regulations made under section 106;

“related persons” means —

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   (a)     a natural person and a relative of that natural person; or

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   (b)     a trust and a person who is or may be a beneficiary in respect of that trust or whose relative is or may be a beneficiary; or

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   (c)     a partnership or company limited by shares and a member of the partnership or company limited who, together with shares or other membership interests held by persons who are related to such member under another paragraph of this definition, owns 25% or more of the rights to income or capital of the partnership or company; or

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   (d)     a shareholder in a company limited by shares if the shareholder, together with shares held by persons who are related to such shareholder under another paragraph of this definition —

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      (i)     controls 25% or more of the voting power in the company limited by shares, or

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      (ii)     owns 25% or more of the rights to dividends or of the rights to capital, or

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   (e)     two companies, if a person, either alone or together with a person or persons who are related to such person under another paragraph of this definition —

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      (i)     controls 25% or more of the voting power in both companies, or

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      (ii)     owns 25% or more of the rights to dividends or of the rights to capital in both companies; and, for the purposes of paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of this definition, a person is treated as owning, on a pro rata basis, shares or other membership interests which are owned or controlled by such person indirectly through one or more interposed persons;

“relative”, in relation to a natural person, means —

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   (a)     the spouse of the person; or

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   (b)     an ancestor, or a lineal descendant of the person's grandparents, stepfather, stepmother, or stepchild; or

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   (c)     a spouse of a person referred to in paragraph (b),

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   and for the purposes of this definition, an adopted child is treated as a natural child of the adopter;

“rental agreement” means an agreement for the letting of goods other than a hire-purchase agreement or a finance lease;

“resident” means —

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   (a)     the State, a public authority or a local authority;

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   (b)     a person resident in Saint Lucia for the year in question for the purposes of the Income Tax Act;

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   (c)     a person, other than an individual, formed or created under a law in force in Saint Lucia or managed and controlled in Saint Lucia, whether or not that person is resident in Saint Lucia for the year in question for the purposes of the Income Tax Act; or

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   (d)     any other person to the extent that the person carries on a taxable activity in Saint Lucia;

“returnable container” means a container —

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   (a)     for which a deposit is charged by the supplier; and

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   (b)     the deposit for which is required by law or agreement to be refunded or allowed as a credit to the person returning it;

“sale” means an agreement of purchase and sale, and any other transaction whereby ownership of goods passes or is to pass from one person to another;

“sales receipt” means a document that a supplier is required to issue under section 34;

“second-hand goods” means goods which have been previously used except the following —

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   (a)     precious metals or goods made of precious metals being —

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      (i)     gold, in an investment form, of at least 99.5% fineness,

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      (ii)     silver, in an investment form, of at least 99.9% fineness,

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      (iii)     platinum, in an investment form, of at least 99% fineness,

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      (iv)     goods to the extent that they would fall within (i), (ii) or (iii) if they were of the required fineness;

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   (b)     diamonds, rubies, emeralds or sapphires that are not mounted, set or strung;

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   (c)     animals or plants;

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   (d)     real property; and

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   (e)     goods valued at $10,000 or less;

(Inserted by Act 10 of 2012)

“services” means anything that is not goods or money;

“State” means the Government of Saint Lucia but does not include a public authority;

“supplier”, in relation to a supply, means the person making the supply;

“supply” has the meaning in section 4;

“tax” means value added tax;

“tax credit note” has the meaning in section 35;

“tax debit note” has the meaning in section 35;

“tax fraction”, in relation to a taxable supply, means the fraction calculated in accordance with the formula R/(1 + R) where “R” is the rate of VAT, expressed as a percentage, applicable to the taxable supply;

“tax invoice” means a document provided as required under section 34;

“tax officer” means the Comptroller and any other person in the public service who is acting on behalf of the Comptroller;

“tax period” has the meaning in section 36;

“taxable activity” has the meaning in section 6;

“taxable person” has the meaning in section 11 and includes any reference in this Act to a registered person or a taxpayer;

“taxable supply” means a supply of goods or services in Saint Lucia in the course or furtherance of a taxable activity, other than an exempt supply;

“taxpayer identification number” means the number issued for tax purposes by the Comptroller to a person registered under this Act;

“trust” means a relationship where property is under the control or management of a trustee;

“trustee” means a person appointed or constituted trustee by act of parties, by Order or declaration of a Court, or by operation of law and includes a person having or taking upon himself or herself the administration or control of property subject to a trust;

“unregistered recipient” means a person who is not registered receiving a taxable supply;

“value added tax” means the tax imposed under this Act and includes any amount, including interest or a penalty payable under this Act to the extent that it is treated as tax for the purposes of this Act;

“value of a supply” has the meaning in section 20;

“value of an import” has the meaning in section 24.