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Tax exemptions to ExxonMobil must extend to local businesses – GCCI President
Kaieteur News – Insisting that local businesses in Guyana over the years have been the driving factor in the country’s economy, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) believes now is the time for the taxation policy to be reviewed so that small companies can enjoy benefits similar to that of oil giant, ExxonMobil.
President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Timothy Tucker
President of the Private Sector body, Timothy Tucker, stated his position on Friday while speaking to Reporters after the opening of the Business Development Forum in Georgetown.
Cognizant of the fact that last year over $266 billion in taxes were waived by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) with $203 billion alone to oil companies, the Chamber President called for tax incentives to be introduced for local businesses to allow growth and even regional expansion.
He explained that while he believes frontier companies like ExxonMobil should be privy to tax exemptions, given that they made investments in a very uncertain environment, Government must find a way to level the playing field.
“I would like to see something also given to local existing businesses that have been here all the years that maybe want to go public or want to be able to redefine and re-innovate themselves should be able to have some sort of tax benefits that is similar to what they are getting,” Tucker said.
He was keen to note, “So you got a few companies in the country that are being taxed in the corporate rate, a lot of people operating under and below the radar, hiding under the guise of sole proprietorship and then the multinational conglomerates get the free pass.”
As such, the GCCI Head alluded to the need for a revised taxation policy. “So really the tax base is narrow but we need maybe a modern taxation system that encompasses everybody and be able to get more of it…the Private Sector has been here working doing all of the work over the years, got the country surviving, paying the bills really and truly need a break and need something to look forward to and I believe that the time is now.”
He said that a Tax Review Committee was established which clearly indicates that changes are needed to the existing regime. To this end, Tucker said he looks forward to the outcome of that Committee.
At the same time, he informed that the GCCI had created its own tax reform sub-committee that is currently drafting its own suggestions to be shared with the government team. The Chamber said it already held preliminary discussions with the private sector and expects to deliver its report to the Committee in a few weeks’ time.
Just this past week Kaieteur News reported that GRA at the end of the fiscal year 2021 granted a total of $266.774 billion in tax waivers with a whopping $203.8 billion alone to the oil and gas sector or 78.3 percent of all tax exemptions granted for the year.
This information is contained in the Auditor General’s 2021 Report, released only this week. Notably the tax waivers also amount to more than what the country gained in revenue from the oil sector during the same period.
According to the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Summary, as at December 31, 2021 the total balance was $126,694,310,000 billion (US$633.47M); while the total tax waivers for this period amounted to US$1.019 billion.
The tax body at the end of 2021 collected the sum of $242.091 billion.
So far, the Publisher of this newspaper, Mr. Glenn Lall has filed a case in Guyana’s High Court challenging the tax giveaways in the Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) to the oil companies.
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