Georgetown: Import companies are being warned by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) not to engage in any form of manipulation of tax relief measures on freight put into effect by President, Irfaan Ali, earlier this month. According to a notice issued by GRA, some import companies have been manipulating the tax relief measures put in place to reduce and revert freight charges to its pre-pandemic levels.
GRA noted that some areas of manipulation that have been “discerned so far” include the misrepresentation of invoice dates to reflect dates after August 1, 2021, even though goods were shipped prior to that date.
The tax body noted too, that local importers have been manipulating invoices that reflect only the ‘Freight On Board’ or FOB charges, and not the prices of ‘Cost Insurance and Freight’ or CIF. Further, the revenue authority found that persons were producing invoices that reflected lower prices of commodities and higher freight charges.
As a result, the GRA is urging importers to be compliant and supply the correct invoices to the agency. “Importers are further implored to pass such savings on to the consuming public,” the notice stated. The GRA also reminded importers of the consequences of their non-compliance and warned that those found guilty of tax evasion would be penalised in accordance with the relevant legislation.
“The GRA again advises that those found non-compliant will be subjected to additional taxes, fines, penalties and imprisonment upon conviction,” the notice read.
On August 9, the Office of the President issued a press release stating that President Ali had instructed that freight charges were to be reduced to pre pandemic levels or prior to March 1, 2020, in the calculation of Customs Duties, Excise Taxes and Input Vat on goods imported.
The press release stated that the government had been monitoring the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on household income, the private sector and the economy as a whole, and had noted the marked price increase in shipping costs from various countries. It was noticed that in some cases, the price for a 20-foot container moved from US$2,500 to US$15,000, while the price for a 40-foot container moved from US$3,500 to over US$20,000. The release noted that these price increases due to increased shipping and freight fees as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic were being passed on to the consumers. Due to having observed that Guyanese were being forced to pay these increased prices, the President had decided to announce the tax relief. Consequently, the relief is to be applied to any invoices from August 1, 2021 and is set to run until January 31, 2022.
The announcement came on the heels of citizens expressing their frustration about the price increases. Back in February, a number of citizens had voiced their concerns about a price increase for commodities and goods. Several consumers had complained of an almost 100 percent increase in the cost of most vegetables at both markets and supermarkets.
