GRA clarifies tax exempt status for interior airstrips

Aug 08, 2019 News

The Guyana Revenue Authority has hit back at misinformation being peddled on social media and by certain media houses about VAT (Value Added Tax) exemptions for some airstrips located in the Interior.
In a statement yesterday, the authority noted that it has granted VAT exemption to 53 interior airstrips since 2017, and not August 2019.
Fifty-three airstrips had gotten exemptions, effective February 1, 2017. But from August 2, 2019, after representations were made, the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, utilised the powers vested in him under Schedule II – 13 (c) for the purpose of Section 18 of the VAT Act, and in so doing, exempted travel to the airstrip of Kopinang, the now 54th airstrip to which that privilege is airstrip is attached.
Pursuant to those, VAT is exempted from airfares to transport passengers or goods to and from any of the airstrips, provided that satisfactory evidence is submitted to the airline that the passenger is resident in the rural area.
It also went on to note that the authority can’t simply discontinue a tax or re-introduce a new one without the necessary legislative changes. The work of the body, it states, is to administrate the tax laws in a fair and consistent manner.

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