President Ali is confused on the banking sector

May 30, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

I thank you for publishing my previous letter captioned “HE is confused on the banking sector”.

This letter is a follow up on this same issue and demonstrated how the Government through the GRA is holding an axe over the head of the local banking sector and by extension every Guyanese citizen. I have reviewed the annual reports of 3 banks (CBGL, GBTI and RBGL) and have noted the following:

CBGL

Page 67 of the bank’s annual report for 2023 indicates that “the GRA has sought to raise additional corporate and property taxes…”. The sum claimed by the GRA over the period 2010 to 2021 is $488M.

GBTI

Pages 63 and 64 of the bank’s annual report for 2023 indicate that the bank, since 2018, has been continuously receiving “notice of assessment” from the GRA after filing its annual tax returns. These notices of assessment from the GRA basically demand additional taxes from the banks, as at the end of 2023 the total additional sum demanded was $951,207,116.

RBLGL

Page 107 of the bank’s annual report for 2023 indicated that “…. the GRA raised additional assessments for the years …. 2010-2021)”. The additional sum demanded by GRA was not clearly stated in the annual report, however, page 130 of the annual report indicates a deferred tax amount of $684M and other liabilities of $3.8B. Thus, the additional sum claimed by GRA can be a combination of or a subset of deferred tax and other liabilities.

Collectively the GRA is claiming approximately $2B more from these 3 banks, while other companies in the Oil and Gas sectors pay little to no tax.

This matter has been prolonged for several years and has engaged the High Court with no near end in sight.

What has HE done to ensure that this dark cloud is removed from over the heads of these banks so they can have a more positive outlook and invest more, as he desires, into Guyana’s economy and development?

For many years there has been a lot of pomp about additional banks entering Guyana, this has not materialized and will never materialize unless current policies are changed to make Guyana more attractive.

The reality is that if the GRA gets its way almost every citizen will suffer as this expense of additional taxes will be passed on by lower interest rates on deposits and higher interest rates on loans.

With highest regards,

Marcus Perry

corporate, Marcus Perry, property, sector, taxes

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President Ali is confused on the banking sector

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