80 per cent VAT-registrants submit returns
Kaieteur News
March 1, 2007
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is on target with its revenue collection.
Some 80 percent of the Value Added Tax-registered businesses have met the deadline for filing returns and remitting taxes to the GRA for the month of January.
Describing this as a record comparable with any new VAT implementation, Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur told media operatives yesterday that 1,674 persons out of a possible 2,100 made the submissions by the due date of Wednesday, February 21.
The GRA has projected VAT remittances to the tune of $2B monthly.
Following the submission of returns Sattaur said he has been able to analyse them and at face value, has segregated those that are payable and those that are due for refund. However the Authority is viewing the number of returns due for refund, at face value, with great concern. He related that some 550 businesses have filed for tax credit but noted that some of these may be subject to an audit.
“The Private Sector had lamented that consumers were excessively burdened by VAT. However, our empirical evidence does not bear this out. I would like to say that we have quite a few options opened to us to determine whether or not we accept these returns or to proceed to assess those based on the face value.”
He said that the GRA is empowered under the VAT law to carry out examination of returns with the underlying records of the businesses if there are discrepancies. The GRA can also choose to estimate an amount of VAT payable by the examination of these returns.
Businesses should therefore endeavour to maintain adequate books and records that can be used independently to test and verify the accuracy of the returns, Sattaur said.
He posited that Government went to great lengths to ensure that consumers would not suffer financially and, shortly before the introduction of the tax, and after, it authorised a range of essential items, such as basic food, education and medical goods and services, to be free of tax.
“At the same time members of my staff conducted a series of educational seminars for the business community and made personal visits to individual VAT registrants to ensure that they were properly prepared to meet their legal obligations.”
Conversely, the Commissioner General stressed that businesses that have failed to register, or have failed to make their returns on time, are adversely affecting the smooth implementation of VAT.
He noted that they could face considerable financial penalties, which the GRA will not hesitate to enforce. Sattaur assured the GRA's information technology system will enable quick identification of those who default on their VAT returns.
The fine for late filing is $1,000 for every day, or part thereof, that the return remains outstanding or 10 percent of the tax due, which ever is greater, but the Commissioner General assured that this penalty could be waived on the submission of late returns if registrants notify the GRA in writing of the reason for the delay.
The Commissioner General said while he believes that the GRA has made a good beginning for VAT in Guyana , the GRA is not complacent and recognises that there are many challenges still to be overcome.
Meanwhile, the GRA says it has already begun the task of following up those who have failed to register or file returns on time and is preparing to receive the next set of returns and payments for the month of February, which are due on Wednesday, March 22.
The GRA also noted that it has intelligence information that there are businesses that ought to be registered for VAT but have not.
It is currently identifying those businesses that fall into this category and will take the appropriate steps to have them registered.
“Those businesses should be aware that they face a penalty of double the amount of tax they should have remitted since the time they should have first registered, plus interest and late filing penalties, or they could face a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for up to two years…
“At the same time, we will continue to provide help and advice to VAT Registrants to assist them in meeting their legal obligations and be responsive to their needs.”