Local authority tax compliance should be mandatory for business transactions – City Mayor
City Mayor Ubraj Narine.
Kaieteur News – City Mayor Ubraj Narine has proposed making local authority tax compliance for business transactions as part of efforts to curb the issue with businesses failing to pay rates and taxes.
During a press briefing at City Hall on Friday, Narine explained that the proposal is to help give the various Councils some form of authority and leverage to collect their tolls. He noted that the problem with rates and tax collection was widespread in the various local authority areas. The issue has resulted in the municipality losing billions in revenue.
He suggested that if the Councils were given the same respect as the Guyana Finance Authority (GRA) and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) in terms of compliance, then they would never have to worry about being owed taxes and taxes.
“In the same way that NIS and GRA need to comply, you should need to comply with your local authorities, where you live to show that you pay taxes to your GDC, your borough and if you’re not up to date with these taxes, you can’t do business with the Government, ”Narine added.
He noted that there are many companies out there that do not honor Local Authority taxes and Local Authorities have a role to play in Government. As such, the Mayor believes the Government should bear some of the blame for allowing businesses to get contracts without paying their taxes.
“Why don’t we question these things? You are going to do business with the Government, a multi-million dollar contract that you have been awarded and do not have Local Authority Compliance where your company office is resident? ”The Mayor noted.
The Mayor therefore appealed to the Government to bring into force laws and regulations, which facilitate compliance.
According to Narine, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, and Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr. Gobind Ganga, responsible for making business compliance by all local authorities mandatory. The Mayor stressed that without these measures in place, many businesses will continue to overlook the tax payments.