Dear Editor,
An I News Guyana news online article titled “Excise tax rates applied by GRA to remigrants’ duty-free vehicles unlawful – CJ” published on 29/7/2024, caught the eye for some stunning revelations regarding the disparity in taxes paid by a remigrant citizen of Guyana and a citizen that has been living in Guyana. While the article was mostly about remigrants paying incorrect taxes on vehicles imported, it was the difference in tax paid by the remigrant and a local citizen that left the mouth agape.
The vehicle in question is a 2023 Toyota Land Cruiser. The tax paid by the remigrant on this vehicle will be a little over 1.5 million dollars after the Chief Justice’s ruling. According to the article, “If the full taxes – all of the customs, VAT and excise taxes – were paid on a Landcruiser like the one concerned in the proceedings, a normal taxpayer would have to pay around $90,000,000 in total taxes depending on the value of the vehicle.” Wow! If this doesn’t leave one’s mouth fully agape in shock then nothing will!
In what generation will a hard-working citizen that has lived and worked all of his life in Guyana, using his skillset to develop it, ever be able to afford such luxuries? Doesn’t local sweat, blood and tears have any value to our politicians and policymakers? If ever we needed evidence on how unreal our country is, then this has to be it.
Let’s also not forget that all of those companies that are making billions of US dollars in profits from our oil, while citizens get the crumbs, also get tax concessions on almost everything that they bring into our country.
And yet they preach equity and “One Guyana.” Where? When? How?
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
