Sin Tax on booze - exactly how much is it?

Think they're more expensive.
My niece lived on Tortola and often came to STT to shop even tho she'd pay customs duty on what she'd buy and bring back to Tortola.

Can't say if you pay doing it the other way.

Just saw a case of Corono at Pueblo "on sale" for 43.99.
With the sin tax being 6.08 per case for foreign beer.... someone is deciding to cash in over double.

Pueblo is the market to avoid. For this and many other reasons.

At Pueblo now Heineken is $38.00 cs. $ 10.99 sixpak
and cigarettes were $37.00 carton

I probably do 90% of my daily shopping there with a monthly trip to CostUless.

"Pueblo is the market to avoid.
"

not always the variety available as some other markets, but I find the prices competitive --- and the service from all the employees excellent on every occasion so that comment is not my experience.

Interesting, I just checked Pueblo's website for the weekly flyer and they now have online shopping. HEINEKEN 12PK CANS - 12.0 PK $17.09 Not sure how baked that is yet, I didn't see a place to select which store for pickup. They used to have separate flyers for STT and STX, last week's is common. HEINEKEN 6 pack bottles for $8.99. Cuzan Rum 1 lt $8.88.

I find Pueblo's prices usually competitive and selection is OK, but no Deli or bakery to speak of (Goldenrock) is a downer.

As with every grocery store, you really need to shop around.
Pueblo is not my favorite. I'd shop there once every 4- 6 weeks or so but I've found pumpkin, bananas, avocados to sometimes be better priced
Plus, I don't always want a 6 pack of something that cost u more and price$mart has.

Honestly, sometimes the prices are all over the place.
I went to Fruit Bowl and they had bananas @ $1.30 a lb.
I happened to see the owner and asked "what's up with this?"
He told me they had the "best" bananas!
I told him, he had the same damned bananas as everyone else was selling except his was 30¢ MORE per lb and good luck with that because I wouldn't be buying them.
Price was down next I went there.

That's what I'm enjoying now being in FL.
Good Grief!
The produce is so fresh. I got 2 pints of strawberries for $5.
They were huge, they were sweet and simply delicious and weren't covered in mold 2 days later.

As with every grocery store, you really need to shop around.
Pueblo is not my favorite. I'd shop there once every 4- 6 weeks or so but I've found pumpkin, bananas, avocados to sometimes be better priced
Plus, I don't always want a 6 pack of something that cost u more and price$mart has.

Honestly, sometimes the prices are all over the place.
I went to Fruit Bowl and they had bananas @ $1.30 a lb.
I happened to see the owner and asked "what's up with this?"
He told me they had the "best" bananas!
I told him, he had the same damned bananas as everyone else was selling except his was 30¢ MORE per lb and good luck with that because I wouldn't be buying them.
Price was down next I went there.

That's what I'm enjoying now being in FL.
Good Grief!
The produce is so fresh. I got 2 pints of strawberries for $5.
They were huge, they were sweet and simply delicious and weren't covered in mold 2 days later.

Well that's great Alana. Sorry, but we don't really care how great you think FL is. If we did, we would all be living there. I'm from there born and raised, and I much prefer the VI. You probably don't want to admit it to yourself, but you probably prefer the VI too, otherwise you wouldn't still be posting so much on this forum.

As for bananas, got dem growing in the back yard by the bushels. About to be overloaded with them as we have about 5 full racks almost ripe. Starfruit, cherry, passionfruit, mango, guava, same way. Genip coming in soon too.

Can make my own beer if prices get too high, check E-Z-caps.com. Really only need the supermarkets for staples and cooking basics. Everything else can we can grow or source locally as can everyone else if they have the motivation and perseverance.

As they say here...VI till I Die

Here's an update on the Trapiche wine at Plaza East. I checked again last week and the price is $6.49 a bottle. I could have sworn the previous time I checked, it was $9.49 as I had posted here on the board. Now, I could have read the numbers wrong, but at that time, I was so surprised to see the much higher price that I checked several bottles, several varieties of Trapiche and they were all $9.49. So I might have read them ALL wrong, or they might have adjusted the price since then.

As with every grocery store, you really need to shop around.
Pueblo is not my favorite. I'd shop there once every 4- 6 weeks or so but I've found pumpkin, bananas, avocados to sometimes be better priced
Plus, I don't always want a 6 pack of something that cost u more and price$mart has.

Honestly, sometimes the prices are all over the place.
I went to Fruit Bowl and they had bananas @ $1.30 a lb.
I happened to see the owner and asked "what's up with this?"
He told me they had the "best" bananas!
I told him, he had the same damned bananas as everyone else was selling except his was 30¢ MORE per lb and good luck with that because I wouldn't be buying them.
Price was down next I went there.

That's what I'm enjoying now being in FL.
Good Grief!
The produce is so fresh. I got 2 pints of strawberries for $5.
They were huge, they were sweet and simply delicious and weren't covered in mold 2 days later.

Well that's great Alana. Sorry, but we don't really care how great you think FL is. If we did, we would all be living there. I'm from there born and raised, and I much prefer the VI. You probably don't want to admit it to yourself, but you probably prefer the VI too, otherwise you wouldn't still be posting so much on this forum.

As for bananas, got dem growing in the back yard by the bushels. About to be overloaded with them as we have about 5 full racks almost ripe. Starfruit, cherry, passionfruit, mango, guava, same way. Genip coming in soon too.

Can make my own beer if prices get too high, check E-Z-caps.com. Really only need the supermarkets for staples and cooking basics. Everything else can we can grow or source locally as can everyone else if they have the motivation and perseverance.

As they say here...VI till I Die

Gee Matt, don't care that you don't care how great I think FL is and I have bananas, mango, guava, avocado, pineapple, lime and lemon trees and a variety of other fruit trees growing here in FL on my property, too. In fact, I thought the lemons were actually grapefruit as they were so huge! I'm quite enjoying it, for now, especially after living in the VI most of my life. Haven't had a single power outage since I moved, everyone in all the stores are so courteous and helpful. Repairman show up on time, get the job done. People are friendly. It's quite a nice change.

I'm glad you love the VI. I do too but I'm also grateful to be able to enjoy what a new location has to offer.

I am well aware of the tropical fruits that can and do grow in FL. Also still remember stateside amenities and luxuries even though its been nearly 15 years since I've experienced them.

This thread is about the VI and this forum is about the VI so comments about FL are really not relevant to this forum.

Not trying to start a bickering war, I'm sure you are a great person and have a lot of interesting stories about growing up in the VI- which by the way would be great topics on this forum and a nice change from the usual. But please spare us the FL comments that subtly disparage where we choose to live.

Not trying to start a bickering war...

So, why are you bickering then?

I enjoy Alana33's perspective.

Not trying to start a bickering war...

So, why are you bickering then?

I enjoy Alana33's perspective.

Because this thread is about a tax in the VI not FL. We don't need to hear how great and affordable FL is. It does not contribute anything to the topic at hand.

Is there a list of the taxable items? I recently started drinking sparkling flavored water from Pueblo. Zephyrhills. It was $1.39 until this week when it went up to $1.59. Not sure if they're sin taxing it or just adjusting the price since it is cheaper than the other sparkling waters in that section.

KMart STT Tutu hasn't raised their prices as of yesterday. Pueblo STT has.

I don't want to hear how wonderful FL is either. I have never liked FL for many reasons. People who want fresh produce in the VI usually end up growing their own and the Cooperative Extension and Ag Departments give lots of free help and sometimes free seeds and seedlings.

To prolong your store bought produce many people recommend using "green bags". Fruit Bowl on St Thomas sells a device that helps, too, but can't remember name. Blue something.

People in the States have to pay for water and quality may be questionable. In VI you learn to conserve so you can enjoy free water without skin destroying chlorine.

Ha, ha! We don't have to worry bout gators turning up at our front or back doors! The iguanas don't even come close.

You can go to the VI Excise website and register and see the list of excise tax items and how much it is. You can even file and pay online. I clear various things for work using the site and once you learn how to navigate it it is very handy to have since it saves you a trip to the VIBIR. You still have to go to the US Customs office however to get shipments released. You will have to register to get into the site, but after you do that, you want to click on the 'info' link at the top of the page to see the listing.

As with every grocery store, you really need to shop around.
Pueblo is not my favorite. I'd shop there once every 4- 6 weeks or so but I've found pumpkin, bananas, avocados to sometimes be better priced
Plus, I don't always want a 6 pack of something that cost u more and price$mart has.

Honestly, sometimes the prices are all over the place.
I went to Fruit Bowl and they had bananas @ $1.30 a lb.
I happened to see the owner and asked "what's up with this?"
He told me they had the "best" bananas!
I told him, he had the same damned bananas as everyone else was selling except his was 30¢ MORE per lb and good luck with that because I wouldn't be buying them.
Price was down next I went there.

That's what I'm enjoying now being in FL.
Good Grief!
The produce is so fresh. I got 2 pints of strawberries for $5.
They were huge, they were sweet and simply delicious and weren't covered in mold 2 days later.

Well that's great Alana. Sorry, but we don't really care how great you think FL is. If we did, we would all be living there. I'm from there born and raised, and I much prefer the VI. You probably don't want to admit it to yourself, but you probably prefer the VI too, otherwise you wouldn't still be posting so much on this forum.

As for bananas, got dem growing in the back yard by the bushels. About to be overloaded with them as we have about 5 full racks almost ripe. Starfruit, cherry, passionfruit, mango, guava, same way. Genip coming in soon too.

Can make my own beer if prices get too high, check E-Z-caps.com. Really only need the supermarkets for staples and cooking basics. Everything else can we can grow or source locally as can everyone else if they have the motivation and perseverance.

As they say here...VI till I Die

Ya on Stx? Willing to sell bananas dem? I'll take a bunch! Looking for good passion friuts but I'd love to buy star fruit too! Gonna order a dehydrator soon too and de man looooooves dried star fruit. I recently had a drink in Italy that BLEW MY MIND, with passion fruit so I'm looking to fuel that addiction 😉 Made one tonight - on point! Once I perfect the mix I'll post it!

I still think no matter what the price of things here is negligible. It's all a trade off. Cheap car insurance and low eletric - high food and drinks. Well our eletric is low here lol. Our AC in AZ was $500mo so for us it's a wash for good organic foods and craft beer. Same - insurance for cars and boat was nearly $300 a mo plus a $100+ water bill which we don't have here either. So really its cheaper here for us than AZ. I honestly don't bitch about food prices here. Considering how remote we are and how things have to be transported, we actually have it pretty good. I still in nearly 5 years (can't believe that) have yet to long for something I can't get. Even my FAV framboise, now can find at ale house. Sure it's $60 a six pack but hey, craft beer, high quality TP and great Bacon - three things I will pay the price whatever it may be. :@)

Sorry Alana, but did anyone get in on those $2.99 strawberries at Plaza west Stx? Holy crap they were so good!! We bought 6 and ate them all up, I made a big jar of jam too but for non organic they blew my mind!

Nothing to be sorry about. When you're living on island and find a great price on something, you've got to take advantage of it.

AandA for high quality TP you can't beat Members Mark 9 pack for $6.99 at plaza west. Lol I just took this thread from sin tax on booze, to toilet paper!!

With the price jump for Coors Light from $10.88, last week, to the now price of $18+, I'd say that price was raised way over the amount of the so-called "Sin Tax." SMH

With the price jump for Coors Light from $10.88, last week, to the now price of $18+, I'd say that price was raised way over the amount of the so-called "Sin Tax." SMH

Still $10.88 at Pueblo subase today

Heineken $8.99
both for 6 pack bottles

What's really a sin is that WAPA is going to be increasing your rates.

What's really a sin is that WAPA is going to be increasing your rates.

So is Duke Power.

Not so much compared to what WAPA charges.
I get the bills from my house in STT that I've rented out and pass on to tenants so am aware of costs and usage.
Definitely more there than here in FL, and haven't had a single outage since I've moved here.

Ha ha, had to run the genny for 6 hrs a few weeks ago in NC when a branch fell on the line and took out the fuse on the pole down the street. Funny thing was Duke automated service called a few times asking if the power was back on yet. I guess third time was the charm. Duke is asking PUC for 17% increase. Well at least WAPA is back to burning gas.

It would probably cost you more.
Plus fuel and time to get back and forth, custom/ immigration fees, daily fees, Just to shop?
If you find it cheaper, let us know.

I popped in to CU Less and it is CU More now. Much more.
Case of Heineken is now $34.99 up from $26.99. Just eyeballing the change it looks like $8 up or 33 cents per can increase.

Probably most expensive on the planet excluding Scandinavia.