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Govt. missed opportunity to cash in on rising gold prices – GGDMA
Miners are blaming Government for what it said are missed opportunities to capitalize on 
rising gold prices.
According to the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), the proposal would have seen Government earning between 25 to 50 percent tax, once prices hit a certain ceiling.
World prices were hovering around US$1,300 per ounce yesterday, a 10-month high.
GGDMA, which joined a number of other mining organizations in boycotting Porkknockers’ Day, in Linden over the last weekend, disclosed that months ago there was a Miners Tax proposal tabled.
The tax scale recommended by the GGDMA proposed that under US$1100 per ounce, there should be a 25% tax. Between US$1,100-US$1,300, the tax would be 50 percent.
GGDMA, comprising large players, disclosed that in May of 2017, it met with the Commissioner-General, Godfrey Statia, and a high-level team from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
This was followed by a July 2017 meeting with the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, in the presence of the Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman and Statia.
“At both of these meetings, the miners’ association presented a tax proposal to these senior government officials, which was presented as a win-win situation for the Government of Guyana and the miners. A win for the Government in that the miners were prepared to pay a higher tax per ounce of gold.”
GGDMA said it would have recommended the tax proposal as a way of “giving back” to the Government, instead of the new tax measures that have been imposed.
“However, this tax proposal by the miners’ association was rejected by these esteemed gentlemen. Matter of fact, the GGDMA was astonished to have seen the Minister of Finance later announcing that he has to broaden the tax base in order to increase revenues, and here it was that the GGDMA was offering Government an easy avenue for it to increase its revenues, yet it was being refused.”
The miners’ body said that with the price of gold currently above US$1300, one can only imagine the millions of dollars in revenues that the government has lost and continues to lose daily from the miners “due to them not wanting to relook and rework the tax policies for the sector”.
GGDMA said it was of the view that currently the Government was losing over 25% of tax revenues daily.
With the rise of the gold price on the world market, it is estimated, instead, that Government was losing 50% of tax revenues daily, made worse by the rejection of the proposal.
GGDMA has been increasingly vocal in accusing Government of not paying attention to mining, which last year remained the highest foreign currency earner for Guyana.
Miners have also been blaming Government for the state of the hinterland roads, following heavy rains this year.
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