Dear Editor,
On Saturday January 13, 2019 I bought some toys for my toddler at a city bookstore. Upon examination of my receipt, I saw that there was VAT added. After querying from the cashier, I was told that in Guyana there is a VAT on toys. This is disappointing.
The availability of toys and playthings is one of the indicators measured by UNICEF in its Multi Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) of children which tells you how well a country’s children are doing developmentally. It is no mistake that this indicator is included in the survey as play is an important part of children’s development. It fosters many skills including creativity and conflict resolution. The availability of playthings and play is also related to high test scores among children. It is therefore baffling given our education challenges why there is a tax on toys in Guyana.
The situation of a tax on toys raises another more general issue, the failure of our government to conduct social analyses of their policies. The country is replete with examples of policies that have dire social impacts for some segments of the population more often than not the segments that are already vulnerable (the poor, young men, children and women). A couple of examples include the policies on the sugar industry, the policy and laws on ganja, VAT on various basic commodities, disruption of businesses and livelihoods due to infrastructural projects (East Coast Highway) etc. Social analysis including gender analysis of the policies would allow the policymakers to identify the positive and negative impacts of their policies and either institute the concomitant social safeguards and safety nets or discontinue or modify the policies. Speaking with local citizens, who are feeling the various impacts of some of these polices, they report it is a major contributing factor to the perception that the government is an uncaring one.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)