REELING from the everyday consequences of living under the A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, has emphasised that no longer are the ordinary Guyanese being choked by the former government’s more than 300 taxes.

Speaking at a party press conference on Thursday last, Dr. Jagdeo, who is also the country’s Vice President, said that from the gold miners to the man with a donkey cart, the former coalition government choked the economy with its slew of taxes.
The General Secretary spoke about the PPP’s record of relief, where it reversed APNU+AFC’s more than 300 taxes.

He referenced the budget speeches of the former Finance Minister Winston Jordan as evidence, encouraging citizens to “go to Jordan’s budget speeches, and go to the back of those speeches, and you will find an annexe of fee increases and taxation increases.”

“So, in every sector, no one was spared. From the guy driving his donkey cart, his fee went up. To the health sector, remember the education sector, the miners, they increased the royalty rate, the taxes on machinery and equipment, land rental charges, everything under the sun, you can think about.”

The Vice President highlighted the PPP’s tax record since 2020, emphasising that the government delivered on its promise to reverse the burdensome taxes imposed by the APNU+AFC administration, an effort that cost over $50 billion. According to Dr Jagdeo, since taking office, the government has implemented a range of tax cuts and relief measures aimed at improving citizens’ lives. These include the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on machinery and equipment, water and electricity, data services, hinterland travel, and several other essential goods and services.

The Vice President also spoke about the reduction in personal income tax rates, the doubling of the income tax threshold, tax-free allowances and the corporate tax abolished for private health and education providers to spur development. In the construction industry, there has also been the removal of VAT on a range of materials.

“We promised to reverse their hardship taxes. We did so. We promised no new taxes, we did so, and then in addition to that, we removed all these taxes. In every sector, I can do this with, we have a story to tell in every sector, and it’s a story of fulfilment of promises and a vision. The vision is that you cannot love the productive sector and then tax the machinery and equipment that they use in the sector. You can’t want manufacturing and then put a VAT on the factory that the people import to create jobs and to expand manufacturing. I don’t know what philosophy was driving APNU. What philosophy drove them to put taxes on basic food items that were not there before.”