Income Tax Declaration…

The call for Members of Parliament to make public their annual income tax returns filed with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the past ten years has attracted the support of many Guyanese who said such a  move will significantly boost citizens’ confidence in their elected officials.

Sawan Jagnairan

Anil Persaud

Timothy Bhagwandin

The opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) piloted the motion last Thursday in the National Assembly, calling on all MPs to make public their Personal Income Tax returns since 2006.
However, the motion was defeated by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) government, which said it was not in favour of the public declaration, but would prefer to make such disclosures to the Integrity Commission – a decision which does not find favour with many citizens, who chastised the APNU/AFC which campaigned on a transparency and acceptability platform for the May 11, 2015 General and Regional elections.
Guyana Times spoke with a number of Guyanese randomly on this issue all of whom supported the view that elected officials make public declarations.
Anil Persaud, a University of Guyana student described the government’s decision to vote against the motion as “blatant hypocrisy and an enactment of the good old nonsensical ‘Do as I say and not as I do.”
“The least they should do is practice what they preach and that’s a generous statement on their behalf because they not just preached transparency and credibility, but brutally enforce it in what are sometimes irrelevant and insignificant cases. It goes to show that those who have this assumed power also have the ability to do and say as they please and no one is allowed to intervene; whilst they breathe down the necks of persons who they view as vulnerable and in contrast to their ideologies. It’s one sided and unfair to say the least, and it proves that the transparency, accountability and credibility initiatives that they speak of on a constant basis are merely gimmicks to address their personal grudges and not an attempt to secure national transparency as they claim,” a passionate Persaud said.
Meanwhile, Alfred James said briefly; “I think that is a good move you know, that’s a very good move… we got to know if everybody paying tax.”
Businessman Timothy Bhagwandin said the decision to vote against such a transparency initiative is clearly illogical and may be because the government has something to hide.
“I think they are afraid to expose what they have. Most of them are wealthier than anyone might expect.  It seems their assets are not obtained legally or else they would have no objection in a declaration of assets. So it’s either they cannot account for what they have made that they denied the request, because I simply cannot find a better reason. They were the ones that proclaim they would be a lean and clean government once elected to office. So this is an opportunity for them to practice what they preach about accountability and transparency, so why not support the motion?” Bhagwandin stated.
Sawan Jagnarine, a University graduate shared the view that all elected officials should make public their personal income tax information if they have nothing to hide.
“I would like to say that it is my personal belief they should declare their income tax publicly, all Parliamentarians. Having the opposition voting for it, I will give them a plus, because the previous opposition wanted that, they wanted the government at that time to declare their assets and income tax, now if they actually voted against it that is a hypocritical statement they are making, because previously they spoke about transparency,” Jagnarine said
>>> Guyana Times<<< also spoke with Winston Argyle, a Guyanese living in the Diaspora who took a swipe at both the government and opposition, describing them as “utter hypocrites,”
“Both sides are seeking political advantage…“If they all doing their declarations, there would be no need for legislation,  I can go online and pull up the tax returns of the President of the United States anytime, so they should ALL publish their annual tax returns… I don’t care about 10 years,” Argyle said.