Tax evasion is a crime

Dear Editor,
For too long many persons have managed to evade taxes. As a consequence, our economy has suffered tremendously since our tax revenue did not reflect its true potential.
However, this deliberate failure to pay taxes has changed since the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) by the Government of Guyana.

VAT is designed to ensure that all forms of consumer spending are taxed evenly and fairly. It is imposed on imports and the value added (or the mark-up added) to imports and other goods and services supplied by one business to another or to a final consumer.
Although VAT is paid on inputs used to produce goods and services, VAT is not a tax on tax. The tax is charged on the cost of inputs and the value added. VAT will be applied on the value added to goods and services at each stage in the production and distribution chain.

It is an instrument which unearths all non-payers who may have been evading the tax system for years. All non-payers are now subjected to 16% VAT and must comply with the law or face criminal charges and substantial penalties. There is now a wider tax collection which will enhance the provision of services in Guyana. It is commendable to see the VAT initiative advancing progressively.

Keeping this in mind, I will now ask the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Mr. Khurshid Sattaur to turn his attention to those journalists who seem to have several free-lancing jobs. I would hope that they are not part of any tomfoolery of escaping their compliance with VAT.
It is important that possible tax evaders be identified, so as to ensure that they declare their true state of affairs to the tax authorities, including dishonest tax reporting or non payment.

VAT is for the benefit of our country, and it is unfair for a small group of people and especially working-class people, to pay taxes, while others evade the system and enjoy illegal income.
Once properly implemented, VAT will benefit both producers as well as consumers.

VAT is necessary and appropriate in the context of its poverty alleviation policy agenda, and the imperative of ensuring high quality affordable social services, in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and increasing Guyana’s attractiveness as an investment destination which would facilitate high levels of real economic growth. And so, it should be noted that tax evasion is a crime and those who are guilty should face the penalties.
Fenton Scott