Open to reasonable taxation
A body representing internet café owners says that it will comply with any reasonable taxation imposed on their businesses and warns that the blocking of internet calls will severely affect over 7000 persons.
The Internet Interest Holders Group, a body of internet café owners and managers which was formed following the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) announcement that it will pursue and prosecute such business that offer international telephone calls over the internet since it was “illegal”, is appealing to the government to help resolve the issue.
In a press release, issued under the name of Netsurf Manager, Stephen Thomas, the Group said that last week’s blocking of Voice Over Internet Protocols (VOIP) on Dialup and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) by telephone company, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) will force many businesses to close their doors and send home staff since they cannot afford to retain their services.
It said that this move targets some 600 internet cafes, which accounts for about 7200 persons. “The more alarming issue is that this move comes around a time when the United States of America is in the middle of one of the worst depressions in its history”, the statement said adding that since the unemployed persons cannot afford to pay their utility bills they may possibly be forced to become desperate and begin illegal activities.
The statement assured the GRA that it will comply with any reasonable taxation that will be determined by legislation and appealed to the government to make the necessary adjustments to resolve the issue “so as to ensure stability in this sector”.
The group said that the effects of the move will also indirectly affect the national foreign exchange take since “the poor people who use the internet are persons who are trying to cut back on expenses and would be forced to minimize the time spent on long distance calls to their friends, family and business colleagues internationally”.
It asserted that on previous instances, the government ruled in favour of services like Mediaring and Dialpad signaling their interest in innovation in the telecommunications sector.
The statement declared that the restrictions and limitations on the use of these services is a blatant attack on the rights of citizens to the use of the internet. It asserted that the telephone company’s blocking of VOIP’s and VPN’s implies aggressively that the company’s services must be used to make international calls which happens to be more expensive and said that the service and rates of the GT&T can be much better. GT&T could not be reached yesterday for a comment.
For quite some time the internet in Guyana was known as an avenue that allowed persons to communicate and share information internationally with greater advancements as technology and education developed, the group said. Businessmen have observed that there is potential in the internet in developing a new revenue base, the Group observed. It appealed to the public to support the lobby for lifting sanctions against the internet.
The GRA, in a statement late last month had said that a large number of persons and entities have become illegally involved in the international telephone call business and the entity is moving to prosecute them. “These individuals and businesses have essentially created illegal telecommunications networks that employ authorized VSAT equipment for unlawful purposes or VSAT equipment without the requisite licenses, SIM banks, broadband, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and international Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) providers like Vonage, Skype, and Packet 8 to offer outbound and inbound voice calls to the public for a fee. These operations are illegitimate and essentially result in tax evasion since no revenue is paid on these calls,” the GRA had declared.
It had said that such operations are increasing rapidly and its calculations indicate that their collective impact on the national revenue collection effort is too significant to ignore. Government has supported the revenue body and urged the entity to aggressively pursue the tax evaders and enforce the law.
The internet group urged public support via emails to icoauguyana@yahoo.com or by phoning 698-6153.
