Dear Editor,
Mr Christopher Ram in a letter dated June 19 to the editor, Stabroek News (‘Two VAT questions for the finance minister’) revealed the extremely disquieting and astonishing fact that had the rate of VAT (16%) been correctly computed prior to being set into law, the standard rate would have been less than 16%.
This fact was clearly authenticated by the reality that there was a 75% unanticipated excess windfall area in the VAT budget. VAT is intended to be a revenue neutral tax and measures must be immediately taken to reduce the tax so that the mathematical miscalculation is corrected and it becomes revenue neutral. The huge over-collection of billions of dollars must also be returned to consumers by the further appropriate lowering of the tax percentage.
VAT, because of its excessively high percentage, has turned out to be the most damaging expenditure tax ever imposed on the people of Guyana, and the widespread and deep suffering it has caused unwaged mothers, unemployed workers, old age pensioners, men and women on public assistance, low-wage workers in the private and public sectors and most retirees is unacceptable in civilized society. The business community is also suffering because people do not have money to spend leading to a drop in business activity.
Government insensitivity to the universal and poignant cries for the reduction of this VAT tax is unbelievable. Ignoring the sufferings and cries for relief would not make them go away, but is resulting in deep resentment, silent and even overt protest and a growing lethargy.
Hon Minister and government, please take immediate action. This is a survival issue for the large majority of the Guyanese people.
Yours faithfully,
Eileen Cox
President
Guyana Consumers Association
