GRA Head says he will not be intimated
– dismisses Harmon’s criticisms as premature

COMMISSIONER-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Mr. Khurshid Sattaur, has taken a firm stance in the face of criticism by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. Joseph Harmon, over misuse of his office.

Sattaur contends that he will not be intimidated in diverting the GRA’s attention from a legitimate investigation. “This investigation is based on the merits of our findings and not on political directive, as Mr. Harmon suggests. I will not be intimidated,” Mr. Sattaur said.

Harmon’s comments were included in an article published in the Kaieteur News, under the headline, ‘Khurshid Sattaur uses his office as instrument of terror’.
Sattaur noted that Harmon’s comments are unfortunate, given his party’s position on tackling corruption and on protecting taxpayers’ money.
“Here it is that we are doing the exact thing they advocate for and we are being criticised,” the GRA Head said.
Sattaur said the APNU MP’s comments are also “premature” since the investigations are continuing in the latest alleged tax infraction involving the publisher of the Kaieteur News, Mr. Glenn Lall.
Lall has allegedly evaded taxes in that his company has, for over a decade now, been importing printing ink and passing them off as products of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), so as to enjoy duty-free concessions for those importations.
As it relates to the progress of the investigation of the alleged tax evasion, the Guyana Chronicle was informed that the necessary verification requests are still with the relevant authorities in Trinidad and Tobago.
According to Mr. Sattaur, the work of the Authority in investigating this issue is no different from what has always been done, with the exception that Mr. Lall is a public figure.
“If it is now the case that this MP will be using the court to stymie the Commissioner-General in performing his duties to audit tax payers for tax evasion then I might as well provide this crusader of alleged tax cheats with the entire list of over 500 tax payers that the GRA’s various Audit and Enforcement Divisions are diligently pursuing for various offences suspected to be committed,” Sattaur declared.
The Commissioner-General highlighted too that the GRA’s revenues, each year, have been surpassing the target set in the National Assembly, by cracking down on tax evaders from tax schemes and from fraudsters employing various devious and pernicious devices that the GRA’s auditors and enforcement officers bring to light.
The Guyana Chronicle’s disclosure that the publisher of Kaieteur News may yet again be at the centre of an alleged duty-free infringement is the second scam Mr. Lall has been fingered in. Prior to the tax evasion allegation, Mr. Lall was fingered in an alleged remigrant duty-free concession scam.