Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh on Monday brought to the National Assembly orders confirming an amendment to the Value Added Tax (VAT) schedule on a number of items used for renewable energy purposes and to tariff rates for exports in compliance with Guyana’s obligations under the Cariforum’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as he had outlined in his budget presentation earlier in the year.
Both of these orders received support from all political parties in the National Assembly.
The VAT Amendment Order amends the principal act to provide for the removal of VAT from machinery and equipment that run on renewable energy sources including solar panels, solar lamps, deep cycle batteries, solar generators, solar water pumps, direct current solar freezers, direct current solar air conditioners, wind turbines and power inverters, and energy efficient lighting, including compact fluorescent lamps and light emitting diode (LED) lamps.
Speaking on the order to remove the VAT from the items, Singh said the amendment is consistent with the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which he said promotes clean and renewable sources of energy along with energy efficiency.
The minister expressed the hope that with the removal of taxes on these items more businesses and more households will recognise the merits from migrating from less efficient devices to more efficient ones.
The Customs Duties Order resolved that the National Assembly, in accordance with Section 8 of the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01, confirm the Customs Duties (Amendment) Order 2012 (No. 179 of 2012), which was made on August 27, 2012, under Section 8 of the Customs Act and published in the Official Gazette dated September 8, 2012.
Singh said that Guyana was the first country in the region to bring its customs tariff in compliance with the EPA requirements.
