The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has procured the services of Alnoor Kassam, the former head of the Canada Revenue Authority’s oil and gas operations to help develop its administrative capacity for taxation in the sector.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Commissioner-General of the GRA Godfrey Statia said Kassam, who begins work next week, is expected to be in country for a maximum of 30 weeks each year for the next two years.
It is expected that he will work to develop capacity of the GRA’s Oil and Gas Unit, which is an offshoot of the Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU), which became fully operational in 2018.
Statia noted that Kassam, who has been employed through an arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Customs Expert Andrew Okello, who has been employed to advise the agency, will both be paid from a £230,000 grant secured from the British government.
Additionally, the agency is closer to utilising a US$1.8 million Word Bank loan for the procurement of accounting services for cost oil analysis.
Statia explained that of the 14 firms which have applied to provide services, five have been shortlisted.
“They should now send in proposals and we will go ahead with that,” he said, while noting that GRA has identified a team to work with the accounting firm to access training and experience they may lack or need.
Further, he noted that the US Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance, which has been offering training to GRA staff, has been informed that more advanced training is required since the current programme of study is too basic for the needs of the agency.
