Dubai: The five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) may be a given after its implementation on January 1, but innovative retailers are still pegging their promotions around it.
Brisk sales
Just last month, retailers across segments made brisk sales by attracting consumers with pre-VAT price offers. But when 2018 kicked in, there was a quick shift in the promotions with offers to absorb the VAT value or give it back to shoppers during the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) - or even after.
Among the first off the mark was Pure Gold Jewellers which announced it would absorb VAT on all gold and diamond purchases from January 1 to 31. Kalyan Jewellers also issued text messages with a ‘Welcome VAT offer’. It said DSF shoppers could enjoy VAT-free shopping as they would be given VAT refund gift vouchers.
In the automobile segment, Arabian Automobiles, the exclusive dealer for Infiniti in Dubai, Sharjah and the northern emirates, welcomed the New Year with an offer to absorb 20 per cent down payment on all new Infiniti purchases in addition to five per cent VAT till January 27.
Free fuel
Also the exclusive dealer for Nissan, Arabian Automobiles said it was adding “value to new car purchases” with another offer under which customers could only pay VAT and receive free fuel for a year, a year’s insurance, one year service and first-year registration.
Electronic shops, which witnessed a huge pre-VAT rush in December, ensured they kept the VAT novelty factor alive.
Sharaf DG made a five per cent VAT-back offer, giving it as a gift voucher valid till June 2018. The offer was not applicable on Apple products.
Hypermarket Carrefour, which extended a 50 per cent discount on electronics, offered to pay back customers’ VAT as “MYCLUB points”. MYCLUB is Carrefour’s loyalty card which allows the cardholder to earn points and redeem them in Carrefour vouchers.
Cashback offers are being extended in the banking sector as well.
Advertisements by Emirates NBD urge customers to “enjoy value added transactions on your Emirates NBD cards.”
The promotion allows the bank’s customers to earn five per cent cashback when they shop or dine with their debit or credit cards till February 9.
