An importer attempted to evade paying duties which amounted to just under $1M on 2,200 bags of Holland potatoes and was detained last week by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The importer, the GRA said in a press statement yesterday, was detained by officials from its Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID). It was discovered sometime between last Thursday and Friday that the businessman did not state the true value of the potatoes on the invoice he submitted to tax officials.
The GRA said that due to the perishable nature of the goods involved, the importer agreed to pay the difference in duties and taxes which amounted to over $700,000 and he and the potatoes were subsequently released.
Several efforts made to contact relevant officials at GRA for further details on the incident were futile. In its statement, the GRA did not say whether legal action would be taken against the businessman for attempting to evade paying taxes and duties in the first place. The identity of the importer was also not revealed.
This newspaper has since learnt from a reliable source within GRA that there are only two business places which import potatoes on a large scale. However, the source was unable to say which of the businesses was involved in the tax evasion bust and declined to reveal their names.
Meanwhile, last Thursday and Friday, the GRA also seized a quantity of uncustomed goods in Annandale and Mahaicony. LEID officials, the GRA said, made the seizures but they did not provide estimated market value of the items. Among the items confiscated were 86 and a half cases of Lizi Pai mosquito coil, which were seized from a Robb Street, Lacytown location and an additional eight cases were intercepted at Annandale, East Coast Demerara. The importation of mosquito coil, GRA said, is restricted “due to the nature of the chemicals they contain”.
GRA did not give the name of the Robb Street business from which the mosquito coils were seized. Stabroek News visited several Lacytown businesses which usually sold the items, however, they all denied being involved in the incident.
Further, the LEID team also intercepted 15 45-gallon drums of lube oil; 21 cases of Sting, four cases of Unoli cooking oil, and five cases of V8 juice. The LEID is mandated to enforce the collection of revenue and is legally allowed to conduct investigations and seizures where there is suspicion of tax evasion. The GRA encourages anyone with knowledge of such illegal activities to report them via their intelligence hotline: 226-6687.
Earlier this year, the GRA had expressed concern about the high incidence of smuggling of tobacco products, alcoholic beverages and other goods into Guyana. Smugglers, it has said, have been evading payment of customs duties, Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise tax on imported goods as well as the payment of income taxes.
The GRA had also commended those importers who are complying with the tax laws but pointed out that the smugglers are taking an unfair competitive advantage over such importers.
