大咖福利影院

trekrider520 wrote:

For us it's the water situation.聽 We're now on a 1 day on, 2 days off rotation.聽 Fortunately we are able to avoid the sales tax increase by shopping at the Commissary and Exchange on Fort Buchanan.

The use of the exchange is only for the military and military retires, right?
Non retired vets don't have that privilege

trekrider520 wrote:

Hi Rey:

You are correct - only military and retirees are eligible for the exchange.聽 However, if you go with someone, they can sign you in and you can shop there.聽 Not sure if there's any restrictions on guest purchases though.聽 Unfortunately the commissary is military/retiree only - without ID you can't even get in.聽 In talking to some people I guess too many people abused the guest privileges.聽 It was the same in Alaska's Elemendorf AFB as well.

That is what I figured, I am a Vietnam era veteran but left after almost 10 years so I did not retired from the military. I was 1/2 there but decided to get out and become a civilian again.
Thanks

adlin20 wrote:

The tax increase do not apply to food items, unless they are cook(restaurants) or primary necessity items. Also, as it had been mentioned several times, there is another economic in the island, pulguillas (flee markets), trade, side vendors that do not pay taxes.

Can you go into more depth regarding the way things work in this other economy? Are there are a lot of things available for cheaper like second-hand items? If moving there and leaving things behind, i would love to buy a bunch of used things rather than trying to purchase new (or shipping things). Do they have anything like farmers markets for food or no? What about trading or paying for work? My boyfriend I think would love to do things like repairs and maintenance on all sorts of vehicle types and make money that way.

labochinchosa wrote:

A lot of shops are closing. I live in the tourist zone so water doesn't affect me, but the current imbecile governor's entire economic plan involves attracting billionaires. That doesn't do much for small shop owners trying to keep their doors open. It's just frustrating to watch capitolio. Puerto Rico has many incredible things....intelligent politicians is not one of them.

Unfortunate, I think it is a requirement to be stupid to be a politician.....but it is not just the politicians in the island.

adlin20 wrote:

Rey,

And just like in any other government, the rich and politicians are the only ones not affected. I have a co worker that his brother lives in Venezuela, he dont have to stay in line since he is part of the "elite".
He brough pictures of his brothers son wedding, I was amazed, you would not think it was in a country that its people are going thru food shortage.

Big changes in Venezuela, about 30 years ago I went there to setup the computer systems and wagering system for their "Canodromo" (Dog Racing Wagering system) which was a big Political affair when completed. A lot of poverty there but stores had food and just about everything. I was there for about 6 weeks. Every scrap box was stolen and used to fix houses (Shacks) for the poor.

But people were like you and me an seemed fairly happy while they were poor. It reminded me of what "La Perla" was like in the 70's. Needless to say I ate most of my meals from the street vendors, however one of my mainlander friends had to be shipped back to the states with a bad case of Ameba. I was fine, and had a good time.

ReyP wrote:

Does amazon charge taxes ?

Nope, they don't.
Actually, there are more reasons to buy at Amazon. You don't have to go to a store, they have a lot more to choose from and even before the new sales tax their prices were better in many cases.

Sitka wrote:

I would like to know if other on-line vendors also skip the tax? like Sears or HomeDepot? etc.?

I would assume that these two vendors will charge tax since they are present on the island and will most likely ship from their PR warehouses. I ordered from Home Depot once or twice in the past but honestly I don't remember if they charged sales tax.
I do remember that I bought a generator from Home Depot and that ordering and paying online (with my phone while I was in the store!) saved me a lot of money. It took like 30 minutes to process but then I walked out with my new gen set and 250 bucks still in my pocket.

Another good experience was with Advance Autoparts where the parts I needed were cheaper online and sales tax wasn't charged when I picked it up in the store.

Gary wrote:

Sitka wrote:

I would like to know if other on-line vendors also skip the tax? like Sears or HomeDepot? etc.?

I would assume that these two vendors will charge tax since they are present on the island and will most likely ship from their PR warehouses. I ordered from Home Depot once or twice in the past but honestly I don't remember if they charged sales tax.
I do remember that I bought a generator from Home Depot and that ordering and paying online (with my phone while I was in the store!) saved me a lot of money. It took like 30 minutes to process but then I walked out with my new gen set and 250 bucks still in my pocket.

Another good experience was with Advance Autoparts where the parts I needed were cheaper online and sales tax wasn't charged when I picked it up in the store.

Any store that complete the transaction at the store, you will be charge tax. We had the same experience with HD, order the article on line and it was cheaper than at the store, pay for it on line and we just pick it up, no tax.