GRA may deploy permanent VAT officers
Guyana Chronicle
January 23, 2007
THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) yesterday announced it will undertake several initiatives to strengthen its capacity to administer the Value Added Tax (VAT).
The authority said it is assessing the implementation in the outlying regions and expects to undertake several measures to ensure more efficiency and effectiveness.
GRA Commissioner-General Mr. Khurshid Sattaur and a team of VAT officers are in Berbice assessing the implementation there, it said.
According to the GRA, Sattaur said one of the imminent measures is placing permanent VAT officers who will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to guide businesses and the general public on the implementation of VAT as well as to ensure compliance by VAT registrants.
The GRA has branch offices in several administrative regions, including at Anna Regina, Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), New Amsterdam and Skeldon in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) and Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice).
It said officers at these locations have been trained to implement VAT but there seems to be a growing need to have permanent officers based at these locations.
The GRA also announced that it is embarking on a national compliance campaign. During the past few weeks, it said, officers from the Compliance and Arrears Collection and the Legislation and Tax Advisory Services Units conducted extensive field visits geared at assisting businesses to comply with the VAT law as well as to monitor the administration by them.
The prime concern by the general public is the charging of VAT on items that are zero-rated or exempt, it noted.
The GRA is reminding consumers that it is their right to request a receipt from their supplier. If persons feel they have been over-billed or suspect violation of invoicing requirements, they are encouraged to take those receipts to the VAT Department and the GRA will investigate and take the appropriate action.
The GRA stressed that there are penalties for non-compliance with accounting procedures. For instance, it said, a registered person who (knowingly or recklessly) fails to provide a tax invoice, commits an offence under Section 67 (3) of the VAT Act and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $15,000 and imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.
Similarly, a registered person who (knowingly or recklessly) fails to provide a tax invoice other than as provided for under Section 28 of the VAT Act, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $15,000 and imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
If for some reason someone was over or under billed, the law makes provisions for adjustments to the liability of businesses based on changes to their purchases and sales, the GRA said.
The GRA is the chief administrator of VAT. However, the system is so designed that VAT registered businesses also perform the task of administrators. A business that is registered for VAT is authorised to charge, collect and remit the VAT (VAT paid on purchases minus the VAT on their sales) to the GRA within the 15th working day following the end of a month, the authority said.
Evidently, it said, the system provides for ample record keeping and accountability by businesses and leaves a comprehensive audit trail, making it easier for the GRA to uncover tax fraud.
The GRA maintains that VAT is a much more efficient tax system and will go a long way in reforming Guyana’s tax regime.