THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has set out the conditions under which delinquent taxpayers can tap into the amnesty being offered by the government.
In a statement, the GRA said in keeping with the measures outlined in the 2018 budget presentation by the Minister of Finance, the amnesty relates to Interest and Penalties for Income, Corporate, Property, Capital Gains and Withholding taxes up to and including the year of assessment 2017 (Year of Income 2016) and will be applicable to the categories of taxpayers listed below: taxpayers who have principal taxes outstanding; non-filers, persons who are delinquent in the filing and payment; taxpayers who filed their tax returns, but may have mistakenly underreported or understated their incomes or overstated deductions or credits; taxpayers who have deliberately not declared or under-declared their true incomes; and taxpayers who have been already subjected to completed audits and a determination made that additional taxes are owed to the GRA and the additional taxes are still outstanding.
This means that taxpayers who are delinquent in the filing of their true and correct returns and the payment of their true and correct taxes, will be able to voluntarily make their payments without having to pay the attendant interest and penalties.
According to the GRA, the principal taxes paid on or before June 30, 2018, will have all interest and penalties waived, while principal taxes paid between July 1, 2018 and September 30, 2018 will have 50% of interest and penalties waived.
Taxpayers filing incorrect returns during the amnesty period will not benefit from the amnesty and will be subject to the attendant penalties. Increased resources will be devoted to enforcement and all attendant penalties for failure to comply with the tax laws will be applied thereafter.
Taxpayers who are willing to make use of the amnesty period are encouraged to contact the Debt Management Division of the GRA, either in writing or in person and request a statement of the principal taxes outstanding
