Guyanese will be blocked from obtaining licences if not tax compliant – Finance Minister

TIMES INT'L

– return of “Burnhamite” approach – Jagdeo

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

All Guyanese citizens must be tax compliant before they can access simple services offered by the Government, including receiving their driver licences or licences to conduct any form of trade and business.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan announced during his Budget 2016 presentation an amendment to the Tax Act to ensure that prior to the issuance of all licences for public use, the applicant must be compliant with obligations to file annual returns and paid, or has made arrangements to pay all taxes due and payable.

This simply means that every single person seeking to acquire a licence to conduct any business must go through a strenuous process to prove to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) that they are tax compliant. Or, if someone is not tax compliant due to financial difficulties, they will be barred from obtaining any licence to conduct business.

Contentions about this new measure are high, with many arguing that this method of increasing revenue collection will only put thousands of Guyanese in the poverty bracket.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo dubbed the measure “an old Burnhamite approach”, used to control people and their access to services and growth in income.

“This is a big brother kind of approach once again. The GRA will now have a primary part in all of our lives once again,” he said.

Jagdeo expounded on the situation, noting that in the older days when this measure was implemented, if one wanted to travel or utilise any service from the Government, they needed a tax compliance certificate.

“Every single one of you in this country from now on, if you want to have any dealing with the Government, you have to first of all go into the GRA and get a tax compliance certificate and satisfy them that you have paid all your taxes,” he said, noting that the process was torturous.

He added too that it will be challenging for persons residing in rural areas and hinterland regions.

“They will now have to travel long distances to come to Georgetown to get this certificate before they get any service,” he stated.

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