Bahamians have accepted that the 4.5 per cent increase in Value Added Tax will take some adjustments and sacrifices. Rather than asking what people think about VAT,  The Journal interviewed  several persons on plans to make lifestyle adjustments. 

Quincy Pratt is a 48-year-old cab drive, and like many others, he  will  readjust his lifestyle when 7.5 per cent hits 12 per cent in just a few weeks.  He admits that with a wife and five children, it won’t be easy. Not only is grocery shopping and constant fill ups going to be difficult, he is afraid of becoming another murdered victim as two of his cab friends were murdered recently.

He says that with times hard like this, Bahamians will result in stealing more to make a living and crime will increase. 

Leona Rahming is a mother of 3 with 11 grandchildren and 3 great grand children. The 64-year-old matriarch says grocery stores had already doubled their prices, making it hard already to feed her large family. She is now faced with seeking another job because the one job that she has now “just won’t cut it”. 

Jefferson Johnson is paid minimum wage.  He accepts that with five children, the increase in  VAT  will mean living from  pay check to pay check and hopes for better days.

An upcoming family trip to Freeport, Grand Bahama had to be cancelled due to lack of resources. He says that the funds he had planned to use, he will now save to pay for buying school uniforms and books as the prices on them will skyrocket also.

A  47-year-old newspaper vendor and father of four, Kenneth Thompson says he has “no idea” right now how is lifestyle with change,  but that his only plan right now is to cut back. 

He is hoping and praying that snack shops and newspaper sellers are not too harsh with their price increases,  because other than not being able to afford them, he will have to charge the public that supports him more than he ever wanted to and that’s just not him.

The government admits the increase is painful, but a must, in order to achieve the end result  of a balanced budget within the three-year time frame it has projected.