ARMED with placards, a group of individuals on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest outside of the Ministry of Finance,calling for government to review newly-implemented tax measures.
The group comprised members of the local non-governmental organization (NGO) Red Thread and non-affiliates. Among the group was President of the University of Guyana Senior

Staff Association (UGSSA), Dr Melissa Ifill, who said that the groups want the government to re-assess the range of new taxes “imposed” over the past two years.

She contended that the tax measures are “burdensome” to working class Guyanese.
“I think a re-assessment is needed to realign some of the policies that have been implemented, with campaign promises and some of the promises in the APNU+AFC’s manifesto,” Dr Ifill said.
Some of the newly implemented tax measures the group is calling on the government to reverse include Value Added Tax (VAT) on private school fees, medical services, water and electricity.

Dr. Ifill explained that the state of public medical facilities is no secret and often times there are no medicines available at those institutions and this forces people to go to the private medical facilities.
“If you are going to impose VAT on persons approaching medical facilities, I think it is unconscionable,” she said, adding that people do not pay for private medical services because they want to expend money, but because they want to live.
Earlier this year, government introduced VAT on electricity bills exceeding $10,000 and water bills exceeding $1,500 a month. This, the government said, was introduced to reduce wastage.

However, Dr. Ifill contended that working class people are finding it difficult to pay this tax on what are supposed to be considered basic utility services. Revealing that she belongs to a family of three, the educator said that she pays VAT on those services even though her family is relatively conservative.
Simultaneously, a group of four persons also staged a peaceful protest outside of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), calling for the removal of VAT on private education.

Leading that exercise was popular businessman Roshan Khan, who said that the imposition of VAT on education and other services is very “depressing and worrying.”
He said that the government erred in not consulting with the people who elected them, before introducing these new taxes. He described the move as a heavy-handed approach which he too, believes, must be reversed if Guyanese are to live comfortably.