Guyanese ‘not hopeful about prospects’ for 2017 – public opinion poll
The question asked was: ‘Are you hopeful about the prospects for 2017?’ A whopping 78 per cent of the respondents said no, while the remainder said no.
Among the top issues making headlines and dominating conversations of average Guyanese are the 50 plus new taxes, which are up for debate today in the National Assembly. A total of 12 bills were tabled by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, to give effect to the tax measures, as well as penalties, which were announced by him in his Budget 2017 speech.
The 11 Bills read for the first time, include:
1. Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 25/2016
2. Customs (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 26/2016
3. Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 27/2016
4. Capital Gains Tax (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 28/2016
5. Corporation Tax (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 29/2016
6. Income Tax (in aid of industry) (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 30/2016
7. Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 31/2016
8. Intoxicating Liquor Licensing (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 32/2016
9. Miscellaneous Licences (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 33/2016
10. Tax (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 34/2016
11. Travel Voucher Tax ((Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill 35/2016
12. The Financial Administration and Audit (Amendment) Bill 2016 – Bill No. 36/2016
The Finance Minister also introduced regulations related to several of the tax laws including: Travel Tax Regulations 2016; Value Added Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2016; Customs (Amendment) Regulations 2016; Excise Tax (Amendment of Schedules) Regulations 2016; Customs (Amendment of Schedules) Order 2016; and Value Added tax (Amendment of Schedules) 2016.
The tax measures announced by Jordan in the 2017 Budget have been widely criticised by the private sector and other sections of civil society
Readers of this post,pay attention to the bold in yellow.