I AM writing with regards to the recent article dated March 18, 2012 written by Freddie Kissoon in his column titled “When I was small, I heard this thing”. While Mr. Kissoon made obvious reference in his column to persons that he kept anonymous who failed to pay their taxes, it may be obvious on the other hand that he has failed to make reference to himself particularly, over the January 31, 2012 footnote published by Mr Glen Lall to the article written by Kissoon entitled ‘Stabroek News, Messrs. Gordon Moseley, Thomas Singh and Gerhard Ramsaroop’. In this footnote which I will quote: “The publisher is not sure what message Mr. Kissoon was sending to the nation in this Sunday issue. If it is that he is saying that he writes for free in Kaieteur News then he would be misleading the nation. He is paid handsomely. Even when the newspaper reduced the number of columns he must write each week, it never cut his pay. He has never written a line without adequate compensation. Although I am out of the country people have been calling me to enquire about Mr. Kissoon’s paucity. His being poor is far from the truth. I have repeatedly warned him about using his column to mislead the public. He is placing this newspaper in an embarrassing position.”
Mr. Editor, I really wonder how Mr. Kissoon, whom the owner of the Kaieteur News described as “far from being poor”, would feel if the table were to be turned on him, and the GRA targets him in same way in which he would rather the GRA to target persons whom he feels are tax evaders based on the speculative information at his disposal.
While Mr. Kissoon seeks to expose others to the GRA, he should also subject himself to similar scrutiny. Can he publicly say that he declares and pays the relevant taxes on all of his income including that which is earned from Kaieteur News since as Mr. Lall stated above that Mr. Kisson is handsomely paid? If he is a patriotic citizen of Guyana he should seek to make known to the fellow readership of your newspaper who loves this country, what assets he disclosed in his property tax returns as well. If he does so and to the satisfaction of the nation then it would be morally correct for him to call for a massive protest against the GRA.
Mr. Kissoon, if I can recall correctly from reading the relevant Freddy Kissoon’s column in the Kaieteur News, stated that he has not received a black cent for writing in the daily Kaieteur News column. However, the publisher Mr. Lall stated otherwise. The GRA not only should investigate the unnamed well known multi-billionaire jeweller and one of the wealthiest Caribbean citizens, who is a Guyanese living in Guyana, whom we all know who he is referring to, but to also immediately launch a full out investigation into Mr. Kissoon’s tax affairs as he also maybe engaged in tax evasion.
If Mr. Kissoon fails to comply with the simple request then he should stop threatening to disclose other persons’ tax affairs and see the moat in his own eyes.