Chief Justice Roxane George SC yesterday ruled that the imposition of a 30% excise tax on the vehicles of remigrants is unlawful and the inscribed 10% figure should be applied, according to the attorney for the applicant in the matter.
In a press statement, attorney Siand Dhurjon said that since July, 2023 the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) had raised the excise tax payable by remigrants from 10% to 30% on vehicles with engines larger than 3,000cc. He said that yesterday, Justice George granted an order sought by Adithya Bramdeo declaring that the GRA’s imposition of the excise tax at the rate of 30% was illegal.
On 8th April, 2024, Dhurjon said that the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Godfrey Statia, wrote Basdeo stating that he was required to pay a 30% excise tax on his new generation 2023 Toyota Landcruiser vehicle.
Bramdeo took issue with this and caused Dhurjon to write the GRA on 15th April, 2024 asserting that the correct excise tax rate was 10%. In Bramdeo’s case the 10% was equivalent to over $1,500,000 but the GRA was insisting that he pay nearly $4,600,000 – a difference of $3,100,000 in the excise tax. The GRA never responded and on 28th May, 2024 Bramdeo caused Dhurjon to sue the GRA.
Last week, Dhurjon said that the GRA’s Deputy Commissioner, Gavin Low, responded by saying that regulations of 10th July, 2023 tripled the rate of excise tax payable from 10% to 30%. As such for the last year the GRA was tripling the excise tax payable by re-migrants for vehicles with an engine size of 3,000cc and above and doubling the excise taxes (at the rate of 20%) for vehicles with an engine size above 1,999cc and under 3,000cc.
When the matter came up for hearing before the Chief Justice yesterday, Dhurjon said that counsel for the GRA, Nicklin Belgrave, reported that the GRA had made a mistake because it realized that the Minister of Finance had merely signed the regulations of July, 2023 but the regulations were not duly brought into force by being published in the Official Gazette or being tabled in the National Assembly.
Dhurjon said that the Chief Justice granted all of the orders prayed for by Basdeo. He said that she also declared that the GRA’s policy of requiring 30% excise taxes was unlawful and she granted an order of certiorari quashing Statia’s assessment of 30% excise taxes. The judge also granted an order of mandamus to compel the GRA to apply the correct excise tax of 10%. Dhurjon said that the judge further granted an order that Bramdeo’s 2023 Landcruiser must be released to him forthwith upon payment of the correct excise taxes.
Dhurjon’s release said that Bramdeo’s Landcruiser had come into Guyana on 28th June, 2024 and has been on the wharf racking up storage costs ever since. The release said that the Chief Justice ordered that the GRA was to pay the storage costs as well as the costs of the lawsuit in a specified sum to Bramdeo. When presented with evidence that the GRA was charging some people 10% and others 30% during the same period, the GRA said that those paying 10% had applied for their exemption ‘before the regulation was passed’.
The release said that the Chief Justice stated to the agreement of both counsel that the GRA should reach out to everyone who overpaid excise taxes and explain that the GRA made an error and refund the wrongfully collected monies to the taxpayers.
In an invited comment Dhurjon stated that “the Excise Act and its regulations do not permit the GRA to charge beyond 10% in excise taxes. For the last year the GRA has been overcharging remigrant taxpayers illegal excise taxes to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars cumulatively. It is unfortunate that in oil-producing Guyana, taxpayers have been wrongfully subjected to this. But this verdict opens the door for all remigrants who paid above 10% in excise taxes to seek a refund.”
Under the re-migrant tax scheme Guyanese who lived abroad for five years can be given duty- free concessions allowing them to import their personal effects and their vehicles by only paying the applicable excise taxes. When a re-migrant imports a vehicle and they are given the concession by the GRA, they do not have to pay customs duties and value-added taxes on the vehicle being imported.
Bramdeo is a young entrepreneur who lives on the East Coast of Demerara. He remigrated from the United States of America to start a new life in Guyana.
In his sworn affidavit in his application under the Judicial Review Act, Bramdeo said he was a software engineer and had decided to remigrate here. He said that after applying to the GRA for the tax concessions he had to “surmount innumerable hurdles so as to satisfy” the GRA that he “possessed the requisite `source of funds’ to purchase the vehicle”. He said that he was told by his counsel that this imposition to prove the source of funds was unlawful but nevertheless supplied the information. It was after this that he was then told that he had to pay 30% in excise tax.
