GST Dept. looks into $4 parking charge at airportLast week we reported on the increase in parking fee at the Philip Goldson International Airport. It went from three dollars and fifty cents to four dollars, more than the two and a half percent increase since the implementation on April first of the GST. The airport management said the GST was the cause of the fifty cent increase, but a twenty five cent increase would have more than covered the two and a half percent GST. So why the huge increase? And who gets the extra funds collected from the parking meter? After the News Five story aired last week, a GST supervisor called the airport to enquire into the matter of the exorbitant price increase. The explanation was that the machine was experiencing problems in accepting the twenty-five cent coins. Apparently, it was designed to accept the jagged edges of the dollar coin and the round surface of the twenty five cent piece has been causing it to jam. The airport authority said that whatever revenues they collect, the twelve point five percent tax would be reported to the GST department. The GST representative today told News Five they will verify the revenues collected and see if the twelve point five percent is reported after May fifteenth, the deadline for filing GST returns.
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