GPSU slams unchanged and burdensome income tax, VAT

Apr 10, 2012 News

The Government’s decision to retain the 33 per cent income taxes and 16 per

GPSU’s President, Patrick Yarde

cent value added taxes (VAT) in this year’s National Budget will not help to improve the plight of the working class, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) says.
According to GPSU’s President, Patrick Yarde, while Government has done the right thing to improve the tax threshold to $50,000 monthly, there remains a significant tax burden on the working class.
The union’s stance would come as the National Assembly begins the debate on the $192.8B 2012 National Budget from today.
Even a Presidential Commission working to review the current tax structure is not likely to immediately bring much-needed relief to the working class, Yarde said.
“Additionally, the just announced budget did not include measures to widen the tax net to recover taxes from a significant number of self employed persons, who are currently in default. It therefore seems that it is politically expedient to pressure compliant taxpayers, as opposed to taking corrective measures to bring defaulters on board.”
Grossly inadequate
According to the union, apart from the reduction of taxes, the issue of inadequacy of pay to public sector workers is crucial and needs to be addressed adequately and sufficiently in an urgent manner. The GPSU had proposed a 25 percent across the board increase, but amounts reflected in the National Budget for the revision of wages and salaries is $3.742B, which amounts to a projected increase of 14.599 per cent of the sum of $25.630B provided for the payment of wages and salaries.
“If this is representative of what Government intends to give workers, it is grossly inadequate, considering the growing inflation and current prices per basket of goods.”
GPSU also flayed the failure of government to address allowances for public servants.
“Government’s policy of paying unrealistic allowances has gone unchecked for a number of years. The reason for ignoring the obvious need to address allowances is most mind-boggling and disheartening for public servants, who are forced to make do with meager resources and could ill afford savings and meaningful holidays during their tenure.
The GPSU notes that even though the budget is not clear on the improvement of the regimen of allowances, action could still be taken to provide meaningful improvement in this regard through an edict from the Public Service Ministry.
Pensioners’ pain
The union official also slammed Government for not paying “real attention” to a recommendation of increasing state pensions by 50 per cent which would have gone a far way to alleviate the “pain and suffering of those former teachers and public officers, who had given yeoman service.”
According to Yarde, this particular issue should have been given the attention and expedience, which the former Presidents’ Bill was awarded, given its meaning to the former Public Servants and the fact that a lot more lives stood to benefit.
“In hindsight and just maybe, it is Government’s intention to starve them out of existence. Moreover, what of the non-contributory Health Insurance Scheme for public servants and their families? Isn’t it important to sustain the health of workers and their families, as was the notable consideration given to former Presidents’?”
GPSU also believed that it is Government’s intention to miniaturize the current Public Service structure, while implementing a parallel structure through contract employment.
“The allocations for position on the fixed establishment have been increased by 8.4 per cent over the revised budget for 2011, while contract employment has increased by 15.875 per cent (almost double). The parallel public service, which in essence is more or less a political service, has impugned the independence of the Public Service.”
Yarde said that the practice is illegal and baseless and should cease. All employees should be employed within the Public Service structure and remunerated in a fair and even handed manner receiving equal pay for work of equal value consistent with Government’s undertaking and obligations as a member state of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).