Guyana has a battery of lawyers who ply their trade on a daily basis but in Georgetown there were only 19 persons named.

Among the names on the list of Attorneys-at-Law with their certificates to practice were Members of Parliament Bibi Shadick and Moses Nagamotoo.

Some of the other names appearing on the list include Gregory Gaskin, Robin Stoby, Kashir Khan, Robin Hunte, Nicole Pierre, Jamela Ali and Rosemarie Choo among others.

Glaringly absent were the more high profile lawyers such as Bar Association President Teni Housty, Nigel Hughes, Basil Williams, Anil Nandlall, Hukumchand and Bernard De Santos among others.

For New Amsterdam, there were only four Attorneys-at Law, none for Linden, one for Corriverton and two in Anna Regina.

As it relates to Medical Practitioners, there were 28 registered for Georgetown, nine in New Amsterdam, one for Linden, three in Corriverton and none for Anna Regina.

In the field of Accountants/Tax Consultants, only eight were recipients of Tax Practice Certificates in Georgetown, while there was one other in Linden.

Six Land Surveyors were issued with certificates for Georgetown and one Surveyor in Linden.

Surprisingly also was the fact that there was just one engineer for the entire country who had a Tax Practice Certificate, namely Walter Willis.

In February this year, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) had threatened to take legal action against professionals, including lawyers and doctors, who operate without their practice certificates.

A Tax Practice Certificate is valid for one calendar year and is renewable annually.

All applicants must uplift and complete an application form from the Compliance Section, Tax Operations and Services Department, G.P.O Building or any Regional Branch Office.

The First Schedule of the Tax Act Chapter 80: 01 categorises professional groupings and charge professional fees based on this.

Professionals are also required to have a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and should submit all outstanding returns in accordance with Section 60 of the Income Tax Act, and pay taxes due including advance taxes and the requisite professional fee.

Category A of professionals include- Accountants, Auditors, Legal Practitioners, Medical Practitioners, Architects, Dentists and Optometrists who must pay $250,000 for the practice certificate; Category B- Engineers and Veterinary Surgeon – $150,000; Category C- Physiotherapists, Pharmacists and Surveyors – a sum of $75,000 is required.

“Professionals who qualified within three years preceding the date of the application for the practice certificate are permitted to pay $25,000 and shall thereafter be liable to pay the full prescribed fee.