THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) collected in excess of $6B in excise tax on petroleum and tobacco products, as well as on alcoholic and domestic alcoholic beverages for the period January-December 2019.

According to a report from the authority, tobacco products raked in $1.36B in excise tax, a negative variance of $36.2M below the budgeted collections and a positive variance of $ 2.5.1M above the sum collected on importation of these products the previous year.
Some $770.2M in revenues was collected from alcoholic products, a negative variance of $159.2M below the approved budget collections and $82.8M below the excise tax collected on the importation of alcoholic beverages last year.

Total revenues garnered from domestic alcoholic beverages amounted to $ 4.49B of total excise tax collected, a negative variance of $199. 6M below the budgeted collections and a positive variance of $17.5M below the collections of 2018.

The revenue authority collected some $225.99B in revenues last year, reflecting a positive variance of $2.41B above the approved budget from January-December 2019 and $27.48B above the actual collections for the previous year.

The GRA projects total preliminary revenues for 2020 at $243. 97B, an estimated increase of $20.34B above the approved budget for 2019 and $17.98B above actual collections for 2019.

“The forecast comprises of [sic] a total of $115.90B from internal revenue taxes, an increase of $11. 56B or 11 per cent; $26.52B from customs, an increase of $1.44B or six per cent; $55.76B from VAT, and an increase of $3.1B or six per cent; and $45. 79B from excise tax, an increase of $1.97B or five per cent when compared to collections in 2019,” the report concluded.