Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority Khurshid Sattaur said the GRA is committed to the fight against illicit trade, but it is important to receive the support and cooperation of other stakeholders and the general public, especially with the provision of intelligence information.
According to Sattaur, if there is a steady flow of intelligence information to the GRA, then its activities would be more targeted and there will be greater results.
The Commissioner-General was on Wednesday morning addressing a seminar organized by the Demerara Tobacco Company (DTC) to discuss the impact of illicit trade on government and business, a GRA press release stated.
Sattaur commended the DTC for the “bold initiative of bringing stakeholders together to discuss at a national level the scourge which could have dire consequences, not only on the economic welfare of the country, but also on the social structure, especially with the high levels of crime and illicit activities that are generally associated with it.”
He also noted that from his own assessment of illegal trading of alcoholic beverages, food items, motor vehicle and electronic equipment, to name a few categories of goods, it appeared to have a serious impact on the economy.
“The GRA is always very willing to learn and share our experiences with other stakeholders; we therefore have no resistance or no reluctance to engage various stakeholders in understanding more about this activity that affects society at various levels,” Sattaur is quoted as saying.
And in a move calculated to get on top of illicit smuggling, the government has sought international assistance and through the Millen-nium Challenge Account Threshold Programme, customs procedures and enforcement activities are expected to benefit tremendously, the release said.
Moreover, the GRA has introduced risk profiling to identify commodities that have a high risk of being smuggled into the country and to also identify importers who may be engaged in such activities.
According to the release, the commissioner-general further said: “I do not subscribe to the fact that illicit activities are those that come into the wharf or cross our borders undetected. I am also referring to those far more sinister and complex situations that give rise to what some may want to refer to as ‘legal smuggling’ where goods are entered as a particular item when in fact it is another, giving rise to the evasion of taxes.”
He noted that while the high rate of tax on some commodities lends itself to high-risk smuggling, there were other factors that were taken into account for the high rate of tax to be applied.
He said, however, that the new computerized risk profiling module of the Total Revenue Integrated Process-ing System has already begun to yield success and this was the way for the GRA to go.
Meanwhile, Sattaur disclosed that for 2007 alone the Demerara Tobacco Company had paid a substantial $1.8B in corporate taxes, income tax and import duties and taxes, adding that the company was a valuable partner since its tax contributions were a significant portion of the revenue coffers. He said the GRA was sympathetic to the challenges faced by legitimate businesses such as the tobacco company by illegal trading activities.
A global scenario of illicit trading activities in tobacco was presented by a representative of the British American Tobacco, while other presentations were made by Customs Head Chabilall Ramsarup and legal officers from the GRA, the release added.
