Dear Editor,
My prompt for writing this letter is the GRA’s Commissioner Godfrey Statia releasing a press statement complaining about folks doing “undervaluation” and “tax evasion”. Well, Mr. Statia, my simple retort is: What about Exxon? Isn’t Exxon also involved in tax evasion – on a massive scale – billions of dollars? But do you not also call-out Exxon?
From published information, it appears the OCs (Exxon, Hess, Cnooc) make billions of dollars in profits from their oil extraction operations in Guyana – but they pay no profits’ tax. I have no intention of doing a distraction here – distracting from your focusing on citizens doing “undervaluation” and “cheating” the gov’t on taxes. But my question: where is your sense of proportion and balance?
A letter published in SN on Feb 16th, reported GRA issued Tax Receipts for $2.8 billion to Oil Companies stating their taxes “fully paid”. I have read the Tax Article – Article 15 of the PSA. And, it is very clear in that Article that OCs pay no tax on profits made in Guyana – but GRA regularly issues Tax Receipts indicating they pay taxes.
Let’s go to Tax Article 15.3 (b). It states: “that the appropriate portion of the Gov’t’s share of profit oil . . . . . shall be accepted by the Minister as payment in full by the Contractor of Contractor’s share of each of the following levies, whatsoever the applicable rate of such levies may be, which the Minister shall then pay on behalf of the Contractor under Art 15.4 (a) to the Commissioner-General, Guyana Revenue Authority”.
Alright, I grant you the language in the Article is a little tortured and intended to obscure the truth. The Article talks about setting aside a “portion of Gov’t’s share of profit oil” to cover Exxon’s taxes. How is that done? Then this portion of profit oil shall be “accepted by Minister” as full payment of Exxon’s profit taxes owed and payable to the Gov’t of Guyana. Could someone in the Gov’t of Guyana (might that person be Commissioner Statia?) explain this procedure of “acceptance” and payment to the GRA?
Debiting one account of the gov’t and crediting another account of the gov’t? Is that how Exxon pays its profits’ tax to the Gov’t of Guyana? Editor, this is a lot of hocus pocus – trickery, fraud, the more you watch, the less you see. Editor, it is time for people of conscience and Influencers to speak out to end this State of Affairs. At the minimum, Gov’t of Guyana must demand Exxon agree to revise this Tax Article whose real intention is to defraud the State of Guyana. To Commissioner Statia, I say, Sir, this is where the fraud and the raping of the State begins.
Sincerely,
Mike Persaud
