Dear Editor,
I refer to the letter “We should not be asked to pay VAT on services supplied when we haven’t collected from our clients” (07.03.28) by Roshan Khan.
First, I wish to state that, like Mr. Khan, I am in a similar business enterprise and did experience several of his concerns but found ways of dealing with them.
I must state that I do not agree that Value Added Tax was introduced at a time when our economy was not ready. If the introduction of VAT was to wait for this economy to be ready, then when would VAT have been introduced?
There is no doubt that at its implementation VAT brought a few hardships, but the government and Guyana Revenue Authority remedied this by making additions to the list of zero-rated items. As a consequence, the list of zero-rated items was extended to ease this “hardship” being experienced by people, especially those at the grass roots level.
To ask the GRA / government to charge or close down your defaulters’ businesses is not justified. We should not depend on GRA to address issues between us and our clients. It is the businesses who should find ways and means of dealing with their clients. The GRA is not obligated to tell us how to extract our monies from recalcitrant clients; we should find the initiative to do so. Businesses should seek new ways in collecting their monies from their clientele so they can fulfill their obligations.
We should remember at all times that it is us who are in fact the client/taxpayers of GRA. It is therefore a trickle down effect where our clients are obligated to us and we are obligated to GRA.
To say that VAT was not thought out properly because of various issues being experienced is not a fair statement since the VAT registrants can always have their concerns addressed at the VAT office. For this reason, the GRA is in no way harassing or fatiguing businesses to comply since if they do not comply they are aware of the consequences.
Yours faithfully,
P. Parina
