… agency aims to meet target of $135.3B
…deadline for filing returns was yesterday

THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has its sights set on collecting $135.3B   in taxes for the 2014 fiscal period, Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur said Tuesday during a press conference . The GRA head said that this year, his staffers will increase their efforts to have tax-payers honour their commitments voluntarily.
“Expect a lot of that from me, to engage in sensitising the public, putting out public notices, holding more workshops, having more educational programmes, you’ll see much more of us, we’ll be more visible this year to

ensure that people understand and honour their obligations more voluntarily”.
Among recently introduced innovations are online banking, which is intended to facilitate payments in a more convenient manner. This new facility has not been utilised as expected thus far by tax-payers, according to Sattaur, despite many of them previously requesting this type of service.
“Now that we have it here, the poor showing suggests that the tax-payers were maybe playing games with us. We’ve only had about 50 transactions so far with remote services provided to tax-payers. It is either through the telephone, they can call in, having set up their account of course, call in to Republic Bank or they can go online to Demerara Bank and make their respective payments for any taxes. We’ve had just two persons doing that, I happen to be one of them”.
A money transfer facility operated with support from Western Union has had a little more success, Mr. Sattaur said, with 50 persons using this service.
These services offer tremendous benefits to tax-payers as they can avoid commuting to the busy Camp Street Head Office, with what was described as a “frustratingly long wait” due to services being consolidated at one location. Despite these setbacks, Sattaur said, the GRA is still persevering with its efforts. “We’re going to bring GBTI and Scotia Bank on board very shortly. There was total lack of interest on the part of Citizen’s Bank and Baroda. These other banks, we’re working with them; hopefully soon we’ll have engagements with them, through agreements. There’s a little cost involved, not more than a $100 per transaction, some of it we will bear for the tax-payer”.
Looking forward to the future, the GRA head said that very soon, tax payers will not be required to file returns physically. They will have to utilise the online services as a contract has already been signed to facilitate this feature described by him as “a major accomplishment”. He added that no less than 250,000 people would be expected to file their income tax returns, electronically online. Customs declarations will also be done online, he said. All of these innovative measures are being put into place with the aim of easing tax-payers’ stress and assuring convenience. He reminded errant taxpayers that the sooner they face up to their obligations and comply, the easier it will be for them.
It is estimated that those who are in the wealthiest bracket of society, particularly the self-employed, are only paying approximately 25% of what they should actually pay, according to the GRA Commissioner General, and the agency is continuing its efforts to ensure that “hard to tax” groups pay their fair share. “You have to do a lot of enforcement activities, take them to court, order them etc”.  Audit and verification exercises have been very successful, according to Sattaur, along with the efforts of the GRA’s Debt Management Unit, which realised more than $8B in revenues from their work. He also praised his Public Relations Department for educating the public about their obligations and the benefits of ensuring that their tax obligations are fulfilled, describing their work as “very vital”.
The public has an important role to play to ensure that businesses pay their fair due, and as such customers, must collect their receipts when making purchases, Sattaur stressed. “When you go to a dentist or doctor, demand your receipts, when they charge you $500,000 or $2M for an operation, demand your receipts because only by having your receipt they will be forced to report that income to me, please. You, the tax payer out there, play a very vital role in helping me to police the laws. You fail to do what you are supposed to do as honourable citizens, you make it more difficult for me and you allow those who are high-income earners, and do not pay their taxes, immunity from the law”. He explained that not collecting a receipt, customers have no recourse if the good is defective, and they’re allowing the business operator to rob the treasury. The GRA also has a hotline available to assist persons and this is always operational.
Several companies are currently before the courts for tax evasion and the GRA head made it clear that their employees and business associates need to be aware of the perils this could result in.
“Those people who are working for COPS, for example, would have never thought that the company would have been subject to bankruptcy proceedings by the GRA, but it happened. You have two other companies that we have asked for bankruptcy proceedings, and we are fighting them in the court; they’re DIDCO and Friendship Holdings. I have to make these things public because a lot of these employees who work for these entities are not even aware that their employers are tax cheats!….and when they think they have a safe employment, the next thing they may wake up to find in the newspaper, is that their employer is taken to court for bankruptcy proceedings”.
Yesterday was the deadline for tax- payers to file their income tax returns.