The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has instituted an amnesty period where persons who are delinquent in the payment of their taxes will not have to pay interest and penalties on their Income, Corporate, Property, Capital Gains or Withholding taxes provided that they utilise the amnesty period to regularize their payments.
See their full statement below:
In keeping with the measures outlined in the 2018 Budget Presentation by the Minister of Finance, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) wishes to advise that the Amnesty relates to Interest and Penalties for Income, Corporate, Property, Capital Gains and Withholding taxes up to and including the Year of Assessment 2017 (Year of Income 2016) and will be applicable to the categories of taxpayers listed below:
1.Taxpayers who have principal taxes outstanding;
2.Non-filers – persons who are delinquent in the filing and payment;
3.Taxpayers that filed their tax returns, but may have mistakenly underreported or
understated their income or overstated deductions or credits;
4. Taxpayers who have deliberately not declared or under declared their true income; and
5. Taxpayers who are already subjected to completed audits and a determination was
made that additional taxes are owed to the GRA and the additional tax is still
outstanding.
This means that taxpayers who are delinquent in the filing of their true and correct returns
and the payment of their true and correct taxes, will be able to voluntarily make their
payments without having to pay the attendant interest and penalties.
Principal taxes paid on or before June 30, 2018, will have all interest and penalties
waived, while principal taxes paid between July 1, 2018 and September 30, 2018 will
have 50% of interest and penalties waived.
Taxpayers filing incorrect returns during the Amnesty period will not benefit from the
Amnesty and will be subject to the attendant penalties.
Increased resources will be devoted to enforcement, and all attendant penalties for failure to
comply with the tax laws will be applied thereafter. Taxpayers who are willing to make use
of the Amnesty period are encouraged to contact the Debt Management Division of the GRA,
either in writing or in person and request a Statement of the principal tax outstanding.
