In keeping with the laws of Guyana, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) will, next week, publish fiscal incentives it has granted from 2012 to 2016. According to GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia, this is an anomaly that has been unaddressed for too long.
Statia noted that according to Section 37 of the Investment Act, Government should publish in the Gazette, all fiscal incentives granted under Section Two of the Income Tax Act. The tax chief told Kaieteur News that he intends to honour this.
Presidential Advisor on Sustainability, Dr. Clive Thomas, had commented on this matter, stating that concessions granted during the year should not only be tabled in the National Assembly as the law stipulates, but also published in the newspaper.
He had told Kaieteur News that the “secrecy” and “level of unaccountability” which prevailed under the previous administration in that regard should remain as a mere characteristic of that “dark past.”
Professor Thomas had said, “Under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), you had the former Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, and the Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, showing disregard for the laws in this respect. Sharma failed in tabling in the National Assembly, the concessions which would have been granted to foreign companies as stipulated by the country’s Investment Act.”
“I am of the belief that all concessions must be published in the newspapers so that the people can see what is really being granted and then they will be able to later assess if the nation was properly compensated.”
Dr. Thomas continued, “I certainly believe that the people have a right to know this and there should be no objection to this. It should not only be tabled in the National Assembly but also published in the papers so that it can reach a wider audience, it can be subjected to constructive criticism and confidence in the system and the process can be restored.”
Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram had also criticized Dr. Ashni Singh, the former Finance Minister and the country’s Auditor General, for having failed, over several years, to adhere to the country’s investment laws. Ram was referring specifically to the sections of that Act which call for transparency surrounding the monitoring and disclosure of tax concessions granted to foreign and local businesses annually.
Ram emphasized that both financial officers have ignored their statutory duty and stressed that this needs to change in the new era of governance.
Guyana’s Investment Act, Section 38 (1) states that the Auditor General, or any suitably qualified person, designated by him for the purpose, shall annually carry out a procedural or process audit of incentives granted under Section 2 of the Income Tax (In Aid of Industry) Act to an investor or an investment enterprise.
It goes on to state that the report of the audit carried out, shall be laid in the National Assembly within six months after the end of each financial year. This has never been done.
Further, Section 37 of the said Investment Act says that the Government shall publish in the Gazette, information regarding all fiscal incentives granted under Section 2 of the Income Tax (In Aid of Industry) Act.
The Chartered Accountant had said that given the failure of both Dr. Singh and Sharma to respect and obey the country’s laws, it becomes imperative for the whole matter of tax concessions to be part and parcel of the tax reform process with the aim of minimizing the cases for which exorbitant concessions are granted in an ad hoc fashion.
He said that the rules need to be made tighter and applied across the board. In doing this, the lawyer asserted that the country would stand to benefit more from greater revenues.
Source: Kaieteur News