City Businesses owe City Hall over $16.2 Billion in rates and taxes; Chamber asks them to pay up

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has issued a call on its membership, and the business community at large, “to honour their civic obligations by paying outstanding rates and taxes owed to the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC)”.

In a Monday morning statement, the Chamber said that the City Council has revealed that at present, $16,297,310,598 is owed to it by business owners who are defaulting in their tax payments.

“This is an alarming amount. The Chamber understands that rates and taxes account for a large percentage of total revenue for the M&CC; revenue which is needed to facilitate the provision of critical services, as well as the restoration of Georgetown”, GCCI said in a statement.

The body which has membership across the business community in the capital said that as one of the leading business support organizations in Guyana, it is using its voice to urge the business community to be tax compliant, adding that “as we lend support in this regard, the Chamber also encourages the M&CC to take legitimate action where necessary as long as it is done in a transparent manner.”

The City Council has been making several efforts over the years to get the business community to pay up their taxes. Many of them were given extensions for payments and in some cases, they were also granted discounts.  Still, the municipality continues to find itself being owed billions of dollars by the Georgetown business community.

(GuyanaView photo)