Only 17 lawyers in Guyana authorized to charge fees - all others in breach of tax law, cannot legally collect money for service – GRA
September 29, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source
There are currently only 17 lawyers, nine medical doctors, 19 accountants, two dentists and three Land Surveyors, who are in compliance with the Tax Act of Guyana and as such no other persons are currently allowed to collect fees for services rendered as a professional in those categories.
All of the others have been deemed in breach of the Tax Act of Guyana and are without a valid Professional Practice Certificate.
The notice was issued by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) which is the legal body responsibility for Guyana’s tax administration and has over time threatened to take legal actions against professionals, including lawyers and doctors, who operate without their practice certificates.
According to GRA, in Category A- Accountants, Auditors, Legal Practitioners, Medical Practitioners, Architects, Dentists and Optometrists must pay $250,000 for the practice certificate; Category B- Engineers and Veterinary Surgeon – $150,000; Category C- Physiotherapists, Pharmacists and Surveyors – a sum of $75,000 is required.
Under the Tax Act, the Tax Practice Certificate is valid for one calendar year and is renewable annually.
Guyana has a battery of lawyers who ply their trade on a daily basis but according to the most recent listing, only the 17 have been in compliance with the Tax Act and as such have been issued with their certificates.
Among the names on the list of Attorneys-at-Law with their certificates to practice were Members of Parliament Bibi Shadick and Alliance For Change Leader (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan.
Some of the other names appearing on the list include Leslie Sobers, Neil Persram, Emily Dodson, Beverly Bishop-Cheddie, Gary Ramlochan and Chandrawattie Persaud among others.
Glaringly absent were the more high profile lawyers such as Bar Association President, Ronald Burch-Smith, Nigel Hughes, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, Hukumchand, Bernard De Santos, Moses Nagamootoo, Roger Yearwood, Glen Hanoman and Peter Hugh among others.
None of the practising legal minds in the main political opposition are in compliance with the tax Act also. Shadow Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, Joseph Harmon, Debbie Backer and James Bond are all deemed to be non-compliant.
When the Amendment to the Tax Act, requiring the need for a Professional Practice Certificate was introduced to the National Assembly in 2009, there was vociferous protest from particularly the legal fraternity.
Basil Williams had accused the administration of introducing the Bill “surreptitiously” to Parliament without any consultations with lawyers, although a court case was filed in 2003 over the same issue. That matter was still pending at the time.
According to the specific amendment, which the lawyer said was “hidden away” in the last part of the Bill, “an attorney-at-law shall not practise as an attorney-at-law unless he has been issued a practice certificate by the Commissioner General (Guyana Revenue Authority) in accordance with the provisions of Section 39 of the Tax Act.”
This was done without any consultations with the (Guyana) Bar Association and the Guyana Women’s Lawyer Association, Williams said.
“In other words, lawyers have not had an opportunity to consult as a body on the contents of this Bill.”