GRA issues practitioners fees reminder
As part of efforts to regularise the operation and effective taxation of professionals the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is reminding the public that those providing private services must pay practitioners’ fees and be registered with the authority.
The GRA via an advertisement in last Thursday’s Stabroek News reminded that Section 39 of the Tax Act, Chapter 80:01 and the First Schedule thereof, provides that professional persons practising privately for a reward in any year are required by law to be the holder of a Practice Certificate.
These professionals are to apply to GRA for this certificate which will be valid for one calendar year on or before February 28 of each year.
GRA has stressed that it is an offence to practise as a private professional without first obtaining a practice certificate which must be displayed in a prominent place in their business.
Included in the list of professionals who should be certified are Legal Practitioners, Medical Practitioners, Dentists, Physiotherapists, Veterinary Surgeon, Engineers, Accountants, Auditors, Surveyors, Architects, Pharmacists and Optometrists.
The advertisement specifically mentions that those professionals employed by the state, those who are in no way engaged in private practice or those not practising for payment are exempt from applying for a Practice Certificate.
It is only those who offer their services privately for payment who qualify for the Practice Certificates and are required to pay the fee of $10,000 under the Act, and subject to a current court order.
Additionally persons who practise while being wholly employed by another person or business are not required to apply for a Tax Practice Certificate.
This provision is explained as a medical doctor wholly employed by a Mining Company, an Accountant wholly employed by an Engineering Firm or an Attorney-at-Law wholly employed by an Insurance Firm as an Insurance Agent. None of these individuals need to be certified separately from the company by which they are employed.
Conversely, a Pharmacist will be required to obtain a Practice certificate since they are practising their profession in a Pharmacy as a Pharmacist or an owner of a pharmacy who is a Pharmacist.
The advertisement further states that professional certificates can be revoked by the CommissionerGeneral for reasons such as questionable professional behaviour, which results in irreparable damage to clients.
GRA has on several occasions noted that professionals such as lawyers fall into the “hard to tax” group. In June Commis-sioner General Godfrey Statia told Stabroek News that the GRA has begun training its officers in the Presumptive Method of Taxation which allows them to determine the income of certain self-employed individuals.
He noted that Section 29A of the Income Tax Act allows for such methods and that the GRA is therefore imploring all taxpayers be they professionals or other self-employed persons, to file true and correct tax returns failing which the appropriate penalties and interest, and in appropriate cases – jail terms will be levelled against them by the Authority under the relevant sections of the Tax Laws.
He explained that these professionals have for some time been on the radar of the Authority which is prepared to work to ensure they comply with regulations.
Statia’s declaration came days after former President of the Guyana Bar Association, Christopher Ram accused lawyers of spending the last fourteen years blocking statutory provisions such as the Fiscal Enactments Amendment (No. 2) Act of 2003, aimed at bringing them more securely into the tax net.
In a letter in Stabroek News headlined `The lawyers have put their profession into cold storage’ and published on May 31, Ram said that “professionals in Guyana, including accountants and doctors, seem to have an allergy to paying taxes.”
“The stories of tax evasion by some lawyers would be comical if the matter did not involve criminal conduct,” he maintained, adding that it has in the past appeared that there was a class bias in tax administration that treated the small business person and the employee less favourably than professionals.
“There should be no discrimination in tax administration and it would be a great day when the annual reports of the Revenue Authority start disclosing statistical information on the tax contribution of various categories of taxpayers,” Ram proclaimed.
A tax reform report which this government had commissioned had also come down in favour of application of the presumptive tax.
The report recommended last year the implementation of Section 28A of the Income Tax Act 81:01 as soon as the GRA has the required expertise and resources to ensure a fair and broad system of presumptive taxation for the most difficult categories. The report noted that Section 28A (I) of the Income Tax Act mandates that the presumptive tax shall only apply to persons with turnover less than $10 million annually. The report said that applying this section to hard-to-tax individuals will require an amendment of the law.