…GRA says hundreds of heavy-duty vehicles escaping tax net

COMMISSIONER-GENERAL of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Godfrey Statia says between GYD $3B to $6B in taxes is being lost every year from the importation and lack of registration of heavy-duty equipment.
This was revealed by the Commissioner-General at a news conference held at the GRA’s Camp Street office on Thursday. Statia explained that just under 2600 heavy-duty machinery and equipment have been imported over the past few years and of that sum, only 300 have been registered. Of the remaining approximate 2300 machinery and equipment, only 1200 have been granted exemptions.

These heavy-duty machinery and equipment include backhoes, bulldozers, combines, compactors and cranes. Exemptions and concessions on these machinery and equipment are only granted to certain industries like agriculture, but not for others.
What was discovered, however, is that many persons or entities have been obtaining these exemptions on the machinery to use them in one industry (like agriculture) and then moved them to industries not granted exemptions, according to the Commissioner-General.
“We’ve been going through [GRA records] to see what concessions have been granted,” Statia noted yesterday.

In response to a lack of registration, he said, the GRA has commenced an exercise geared towards registering all heavy duty vehicles and equipment that were imported and are in use. The GRA, in an advertisement, emphasised that owners of these heavy duty vehicles and equipment are required to present a motor vehicle registration form and the relevant import documents and Bill of Sale to the Licence Revenue Office, Camp Street, Georgetown, to facilitate the registration process and thereafter have the vehicles/equipment examined.
Additionally, the Authority said that it will have strategic points to facilitate examination of vehicles/equipment in the interior, as well as in regional locations. The authority hopes that this will remedy the situation and help to recover the billions of dollars being lost. This amount of taxes being lost from heavy duty machinery and equipment are not the only ways the authority has been losing since it also occurs with vehicles.