Dear Editor,
It is my humble opinion that something is drastically wrong with the Guyana Revenue Authority concerning the way they are conducting business in relation to individual income tax.
How can a Notification of Late Filing penalty be sent to a bauxite worker who paid over one million dollars in Pay As You Earn, expended over $4000 to reach the GRA office to file his return on time, and is now required to pay nearly $20 000 as a late filing penalty? How on earth in this modern time, did GRA with all its advanced information technology take eight months to notify me that my assessment was 17 days late?
I am in total agreement that every citizen must pay their fair share of taxes, but it is not fair for some to be making a genuine effort to pay taxes and submit returns on time and be penalized for their effort.
GRA should go after all the tax dodgers and not see the bauxite workers who submit their returns as milking cows
Yours faithfully,
Name and address provided
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur of the Guyana Revenue Authority for any comment he might wish to make and received the following response:
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond to an email sent to you by [name given], regarding the manner in which the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) conducts business in relation to individual income tax.
In email from the taxpayer in question, he enquired why he was sent a ‘Notification of Late Filing’ by GRA for submitting his income tax returns seventeen days late, despite the fact that he incurred travelling expenses to submit the return on time and paid in excess of one million dollars in income tax, via the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) system. Although the notification was sent some time after the return was submitted by the taxpayer, he agrees that every citizen must pay his or her fair share of taxes but does not think it is fair to penalise persons making a genuine effort to pay taxes and submit their returns on time. Instead, he is advising the GRA to go after tax dodgers.
Editor, since employees, like the taxpayer in question, pay income tax via the PAYE system, the tax payable by that employee on a monthly basis is deducted from the their salary by the employer and remitted to GRA on their behalf. Notwithstanding this, the provisions of Section 60(1) of the Income Tax Act, Chapter 81:01 require all individuals/employees whose income is in excess of the income tax threshold for a particular year of assessment, to submit an Income Tax Return to the Commissioner-General on or before April 30. I must emphasize that it is the employee’s responsibility to ensure that the Income Tax Return which allows the GRA to reconcile the PAYE submissions (tax already paid) made by his or her employer, is submitted on or before April 30, failing which penalties for late submission will be automatically imposed on the tax assessed (tax computed by the GRA on the chargeable income) in accordance with the provisions of the said Income Tax Act.
Section 99(2) of the Income Tax Act states that “if a taxpayer fails to file a tax return as required under section 60(1)…by the due date specified therein, the taxpayer is liable to pay a penalty of two percent (2%) of the amount of tax assessed.” As alluded to in the preceding paragraph, if an employee submits his or her Income Tax Return to the GRA after April 30, a penalty for late filing will apply to the total tax assessed even though the tax would have already been paid.
Editor, the GRA’s automated taxpayer database, Total Integrated Processing System (TRIPS) automatically
computes penalties irrespective of the employer or the individual affected by the late filing, and does not discriminate. While it is indeed unfortunate that the taxpayer in this instance did not receive the notification in a timely manner, it should be noted that all returns submitted, have to go through an examination and verification process, before issues relating to each return are addressed. In excess of sixty thousand persons submit their tax returns after the due date. Further, the Debt Management Division which is responsible for issuing the notifications is also tasked with other pressing duties, such as tax arrears collection, monitoring the various taxes administered by the agency, and issuing demands for outstanding returns.
I must hasten to add, however, that the letter writer may not be aware that while such action taken by the GRA is prescribed by law, the taxpayer has a right to object within the time provided for in the statute set out in Section 78 of the Income Act. If any taxpayer feels that he or she has been harshly treated, he or she can also make a request, in writing, for some amount of leniency to be exercised by the Commissioner-General.
Further, I wish to remind taxpayers that, when submitting Income Tax Returns, they should collect a Lodgment Receipt which reflects the date and time the return was filed. In addition, persons who knowingly submit their Income Tax Return after the due date, can calculate the amount of penalty they will be expected to pay using the following formula: 2% x tax assessed. The taxpayers can then opt to visit the GRA’s cashier after lodging the return and immediately pay the relevant penalty or wait until a formal notification is sent by the GRA.
Taxpayers can also call the GRA’s tax hotline 227-6060 for clarification on due dates or penalties, since ignorance of the law is no excuse. Editor, the GRA would be happy to respond to any further concerns the writer of the letter may have based on the information outlined above.
