The bestiality of Property Tax for an ordinary employee

Nov 29, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Crazy things happen in this country and the population just accepts it. Cruel violations take place in this land and people just shrug their shoulders and go about their business. Illegal manoeuvres go on all the time, and no one zeroes in on these daily dramas. The State has unconscionable laws on the books that badly hurt poor people and the society does nothing about these bestialities.
Take Property Tax. Now it is important to remember that Property Tax does not mean a tax on the physical building known as a property. It is a tax on total assets including bank accounts, books, furniture and cars. This tax for a PAYE person is sickening and that is a mild term.
Take me. I had to submit Property Tax for the past nine years at the request of the Guyana Revenue Authority. I paid for the money I had in my bank accounts and it was hurtful. I earned my money as a public sector worker and I couldn’t afford the sum that was requited for me to hand over to the GRA. I was extremely lucky that a brilliant accountant did the returns for me free of charge. I need to publicly acknowledge his generosity and will ask his permission to print his name in one of my forthcoming columns.
This was money over the past twenty-three years that I acquired working at UG and which was taxed. Then over those twenty-three years, I got interest on my savings which was also taxed by the bank as required by law. This is called Withholding Tax. Why did I have to pay three sets of taxes on the salary I earned at UG the past twenty-three years?
Two of them are in order and are understandable. I had to submit PAYE at the point of receiving my salary, and I had to pay for the money the bank gave me as interest. But why on that same sum of money did I have to pay Property Tax? This is wrong and cannot be justified by any philosophical argument.
This is so simple that the smallest child could understand it and any rational mind would disagree with that third set of taxes. If I won a million dollars in a supermarket competition and the supermarket took out the tax the State has to get, then why every year do I have to pay the State a tax on that very sum again?
Alright, that amount when put in the bank is getting bigger so it is money one is earning and the State has a right to collect taxes from it. But why does the State have to get a yearly tax on that said number when it was originally taxed plus every year, in addition, the State gets Withholding Tax from it?
A research on my earning would reveal that I have no investments whatsoever and I am not involved in any commercial ventures. I call upon the Opposition parties contesting the next election to make Property Tax a campaign issue. When I got the nine notices I informed one of the leaders of the opposition party I voted for, Khemraj Ramjattan, on the unfairness of this situation. His advice to me was to declare everything truthfully because if found concealing information, you can be charged by the GRA.
Many friends suggested to me to just put down my home, car and furniture on the form and say that I don’t have any bank holdings. I didn’t want to do that because if the GRA went hunting, I could be in trouble. Secondly, I don’t think that was the route to go for someone who is a critic of unaccountable government.
Through this column, I am calling on all PAYE workers to demand that the opposition parties take a stand on the nature of Property Tax. The bestial nature of Property Tax doesn’t end with the unconscionable yearly deduction of money from your savings.
You have to pay on your car and furniture. My car was not given to me freely. I took the money I had in the bank which came from my UG salary to buy my car. The modest furniture I have in my home came from my UG salary. Why do I have to pay a tax on the things I buy with my UG pay when my UG remunerations have been taxed every year the past twenty-three years?
People put up a little bit from their salary for post-retirement life. Why must that be taxed every year? I ended up paying GRA from my bank account money that I could not have afforded? But please remember; it was money that was already taxed while working. This is immoral!

Latest News

The bestiality of Property Tax for an ordinary employee

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 14th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

GBA assembles elite squad for 2025 Caribbean Boxing Championship in...

PanAm Aquatics urges GASA reform, lift suspension...

Alimohamed, Motie stroke fifties as Harpy Eagles...

Mashramani Street Football Championships...

Fitness Express to reward overall winners

Amaya Milk Company backs One Guyana Mashramani...

Features/Columnists

The Opposition is engaged in self-sabotage

OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus

Wanted – ten Guyanese true and trustworthy

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

The bestiality of Property Tax for an ordinary employee

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 14th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]