Tax theft? – our money disappears

Aug 10, 2008 Features / Columnists

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INTRODUCTION

According to the Auditor General, millions of dollars have disappeared or are unaccounted for in 2006 and that was before VAT.

Imagine how much has disappeared now that the government has 75% more money than they had in 2006 with the implementation of VAT in 2007.

Where are your monies and my monies that we pay in taxes especially the 16% extra monies we have been depositing to the Government that continues to be squandered?

With bus fares up, many are wondering how they will pay for their children to go to school when the new term starts.

Many have been walking up and down Regent Street looking at materials for school uniforms and looking into their pockets and realizing there is not much left.

From our teachers who earn some of the lowest wages in the region, to the store clerk who barely makes enough money to pay for transportation to work, with a few dollars left for food, they all must be very angry when they realize all their hard earned monies going into the public treasury are disappearing without any accountability.

Cost of living continues to hurt all of us, from food items to electricity, yet millions are given every day. We, however, must continue to pay our 16% + 33% + NIS+ Property Tax + Car Fitness + Other Taxes all to a system that is unaccountable and does not use it to improve our lives.

GOVERNMENT MUST
With the continued corruption, many should be in jail for stealing our monies by giving inexplicable tax free concessions while we continue to pay so many taxes to the government.

We must lobby now for them to use our Tax Money before 2007/2008 comes up missing too if it has not already.

1. By September 2008, school buses must be bought for FREE transportation for our children to school.

2. Reduce VAT from 16% to 7% and increase Tax Threshold

3. By September 2008, increase teachers’ salaries by 50%. This will still not cover the missing and unaccounted monies from 2006.

4. Start immediately fixing roads in the villages that have not been touched since the British.
5. Hire competent contractors to ensure our drainage system is fixed right finally so our farmers can benefit from their hard work.

6. Start on the road to Brazil and get the bridges fixed along the roads.

ECONOMIC FREEDOM

We desperately need the political and economic liberty that has been cried for by previous generations of Guyanese. With this liberty, we can turn into a thriving society that will provide the opportunities and a possibility of a higher standard of living for those who choose to remain in Guyana, and for the many Guyanese living abroad, who wish to return home.

Our National Anthem ends by declaring that we are the “Land of the Free.” There is a direct correlation between this freedom and the economic progress for which we strive. We witness with frustration, as many of our countrymen and women continue to live in poverty.

A stagnate philosophy cannot help but produce a stagnate economy. Even though the political jargon of democracy and freedom is touted alongside the Marxist ideologies, make no mistake my fellow Guyanese, these concepts are actually in direct contrast to each other.

We need economic justice in our nation to see the radical shift we so desperately seek. Economic justice will help change the despair into hope, stagnation into progress and deficiency into plenty by commitment to liberty and an understanding of how this relates to the economic advancement of our fellow citizens.

In a study conducted in the 1980s by economist and businessman, Hernando De Soto, on the economy of his native Peru, he concluded that the greatest deterrent to economic growth in his country were the laws, regulations and government controls that suppress the people’s entrepreneurial activities.

CONCLUSION

I believe that if we create an environment where businesses can thrive and economic prosperity can be attained, investments will flow into our country, jobs will be created and our economy will grow.

There’s no reason to believe that we are not as intelligent, hard-working and capable as those in countries who are experiencing economic prosperity. In fact, many of our citizens are experiencing this type of prosperity in other countries where opportunity is recognized as a vital commodity to economic growth.

As mentioned before, economic and political freedoms are inseparable. If we distance ourselves from failed political ideologies that have resulted in the poverty and suffering of millions around the world and embrace a free and open market system, we can achieve the economic freedom for which we strive.

We have an opportunity to influence change in our political environment and to truly become the “Land of the Free” – politically and economically.

Let’s catch the VISION for a better Guyana! Let’s grab a piece of the political process by telling our government not to steal our money and be accountable for its use.
Contact: [email protected] or www.visionguyana.com

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