-President Ali calls on corporate bodies to honour ‘national responsibility’

IN a candid address to the members of Guyana’s Private Sector Commission (PSC), President, Dr. Irfaan Ali urged the corporate community to fulfil its ‘national responsibility’ by duly paying their taxes.
The Guyanese Head of State made the appeal on Wednesday during a feature address at the PSC’s 32nd Annual General Meeting held at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown.

“The private sector must launch a national campaign on educating [its] membership on the responsibility of paying their taxes. It is not only the government’s responsibility. As responsible corporate citizens, you have to pay taxes,” the Head of State said.
While acknowledging the corporate social responsibility of the private sector, he stressed that policies must align with national development.

“It is good to do social services, but you can’t rob the treasury of taxes and believe that you’re [sic] small social service will compensate for robbing the treasury of taxes. That is not a government responsibility, that is a national responsibility.”
He further urged private sector members to invest in traditional sectors such as agriculture and tourism, where incentives can be accessed.

“There are certain sectors that you can get tax write-offs, that you can get incentives that would give you tax breaks for a few years, but invest in those sectors; invest in agriculture; invest in eco- tourism.”
According to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), corporation tax is paid at a rate as follows: 45 per cent of chargeable profi¬ts of a telephone company; 40 per cent of the chargeable profits of a commercial company other than a telephone company; and 25 per cent of the chargeable profi¬ts of any other company.

Meanwhile, companies involved in both commercial and non-commercial operations are subject to dual tax rates as outlined below: 25 per cent for the non-commercial activity of the company and 40 per cent for the commercial activity.
Following an amendment to Section Seven of the Corporation Tax Act, private corporate education institutions and private corporate medical healthcare institutions were exempt from the payment of corporation tax from January 1, 2020.

According to the GRA, in circumstances where the corporation tax paid by a commercial company is less than two percent (2%) of the turnover in the year of earnings, then a tax at the rate of two percent (2%) of the turnover of the commercial company will apply.