A delegation from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) headquarters in Georgetown visited Linden on Wednesday for a tour of the newly renovated $35M Integrated Regional Tax Office (IRTO), which resumed its duties late last year.
The team, led by Deputy Commissioner of Law Enforcement and Investigation Division Karen Chapman, Head of Operational Support Services Ingrid Griffith and Assistant Commis-sioner of Inland Revenue Lavina Walrond interacted with Branch Manager Desiree Parkinson, the staff and a few residents at the office’s Casuarina Drive Mackenzie location.
The building was destroyed by fire in the July,2012 unrest in the town, severely hampering the GRA’s operations in the region, the agency said in a press release. “We struggled against the odds, overcame the challenges, including funding, and have been able to erect this brand new structure to the tune in excess of $35M, almost two years later,” Chapman said.
Chapman, who also spoke on behalf of GRA Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur said, “While Linden is not one of our main areas of revenue collection it has a significant target set annually, as the revenue from all tax types is in excess of $2B.”
The team is optimistic that the new building will serve taxpayers of Linden and the wider Region Ten community well into the future. After the fire, the office had had temporary accommodations at Dr Joseph Haynes’s facility. Haynes said he was happy that the tax office has been re-established for the benefit of taxpayers.
A representative of the business community in Linden also said he was pleased that the resumption of services in the new building. He hoped that it would be advantageous to businesses in the town that would lessen the need for travel to Georgetown.
Duties at the new building resumed on December 30, 2014. It provides services such as the submission of the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Certificates, Property and Value Added Tax (VAT) Returns, Tax Compliance, Liability and Estate Duty Certificate and Letters and the application for Motor Vehicle Trade and Miscellaneous licences and temporary driver’s licences. The office operated separately until 2008 when it was merged as a branch office of the GRA primarily focusing on customs and income tax. It was later converted into an IRTO, joining others at Parika in Region Three, New Amsterdam and Corriverton in Region Six, Bartica in Region Seven and Lethem in Region Nine that were also converted.
