GRA accuses remigrant, 74, of attempting a scam

Jul 21, 2010 News

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… imports Hummer, BMW but never owned a home in the U.S.A
The Guyana Revenue Authority says that while persons are encouraged to return home to Guyana, the entity would not be a party to remigrants abusing the system and defrauding the state of revenue.
The GRA was responding to an article carried in Kaieteur News under the caption “Re-migrant frustrated at sloth of GRA”.
The article referred to 74-year-old Haniff Sattaur being denied tax exemptions for two vehicles he plans to bring into Guyana as a re-migrant.
According to the GRA, the applicant, who is 74-years-old and who never owned any property in the USA, brought in two luxury vehicles (a BMW and a Hummer).
He could not say how much he paid for the vehicles, having stated in an affidavit that he bought them. He later revealed that his son bought the vehicles for him, the GRA said.
Sattaur, the GRA pointed out, claimed that he had to return to the USA to continue with his job.
“He therefore did not tell the truth in the affidavit in which he said he will reside for at least three years in Guyana. This is a requirement for qualification,” the GRA said.
“The above admissions disqualified the applicant as a person entitled to tax exemptions/concessions. The Guyana Revenue Authority will not turn a blind eye to such discrepancies,” the GRA said in a statement signed by Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur.
“Where are the statistics to show that the most expensive vehicles in America are owned by elderly people who do not own their own home?” the Authority added.
The GRA said it is not guided by appearances, but by facts for which is it clear that a scam to defraud the state was in the works.
“First of all, the father did not buy the vehicles; the son bought them for him. Secondly, by the son’s confession the father does not own a home, he lives with the son. Thirdly, if the father has had enough of living in the USA, why is he, at age 74, shipping all his belongings home, but returning to the United States to work?” the GRA asked.
The GRA pointed out, “It is rather unfortunate and indeed a lack of journalistic ethic that the Kaieteur News did not check with the Guyana Revenue Authority and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ascertain the facts of the matter”.
This newspaper had repeatedly tried to contact the GRA on this and other issues but was frustrated by the refusal of officials there, including Sattaur, to address the matter.
“If we are to worry with the GRA and its non-response then we will never write a story a situation they would like to have,” said Senior Reporter Dale Andrews who has been covering the story.
“Thanks to our story the GRA now sees it fit to respond with the information that was being sought in the first place,” Andrews added.
To this end, the GRA said that it was therefore necessary to set the record straight and once more provide information on the re-migrant Programme offered by the Government of Guyana.
According to the GRA, the Government of Guyana offers certain tax exemption facilities for persons who are re-migrating to Guyana and who have applied for such facilities.
The Remigrant Scheme is implemented jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Guyana Revenue Authority.
In order to qualify as a re-migrant, the GRA said that certain conditions must be met.
The applicant must have resided legally in a foreign country for at least five consecutive years and in the case of students at least four consecutive years, prior to the submission of the application.
The applicant must submit the application for re-migrant status to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within three months of his return to Guyana.
According to the GRA, an applicant for re-migrant status must commit to reside in Guyana for at least three years after being granted re-migrant status, failing which all exemptions granted become immediately payable.
Secondly, the items for which exemptions are sought must be for the personal and domestic use of the applicant and not for sale or exchange.
The GRA explained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is required to ascertain from the application submitted, whether the basic requirements are met and that the Statutory Declaration is also submitted.
Once these requirements are met, the application is approved for further processing and submitted to the Guyana Revenue Authority.
It should be noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not decide what tax exemptions should be granted to the applicant. This is done by the Guyana Revenue Authority within the ambit of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) pertaining to the granting of Tax Exemptions/concession for all categories of beneficiaries including that of the Re-migrant.
Further, being granted re-migrant status by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not automatically qualify a person for tax exemptions.
As part of the procedure and condition for tax exemptions, the applicant must present him/herself to the relevant officers of the GRA for an interview.
It should also be noted that if the Guyana Revenue Authority, which has the sole jurisdiction and authority based on the laws and published guidelines it administers, finds that proper justification is lacking and that the request/application cannot be properly substantiated, then the Authority in the interest of protecting the revenues has a right to refuse to grant the tax exemptions.
In the case of Sattaur, the GRA said that the interview revealed certain discrepancies with his information given to the authority.
The GRA reiterated that it has a mandate to protect revenues while treating fairly all taxpayers in accordance with the laws it administers.

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