Systems to enforce important restriction on used vehicles being discussed – GRA Official

With the successful implementation for the restriction on vehicles with more than eight years old – from the date of manufacture to the date of importation – the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ministry of Finance are discussing the systems that will be put in place as it relates to monitoring and dealing with possible delinquent dealers.
Senior Manager for the Communication and Tax Advisory Service Division, Gavin Low, disclosed this yesterday.
Low was asked what systems were, or, are being put in place to monitor potential delinquency.
He replied that in the interim, for this month, GRA is working on some internal policies whereby they will try to assist the importers providing that they present the requisite documentation to show that they would have ordered their vehicles prior to April 1.
He disclosed that monitoring has already begun where vehicles older than eight years, will not be allowed to enter Guyana’s roadways.
Asked what steps would be taken by GRA should a dealer unknowingly or deliberately importing a vehicle older than eight years of manufacture, Low replied that the option of dealers re-exporting their items is also being considered. The restriction went into effect on May 1, 2016.
Recent reports indicated the restriction would not immediately apply to trucks and other categories of heavy vehicles. Truck owners, involved in the transportation business, have complained that any restriction would make prices totally unaffordable.
A GRA notice in the media had stated that measures were announced by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, during the presentation of the 2016 National Budget. It was subsequently presented in Parliament in February and assented to on March 14, 2016.
The restrictions are all part of a larger, long term “green” strategy to ensure that Guyana does not become a dumping ground for older vehicles.
However, auto dealers had been urging Government to rethink those plans and to meet with them to talk about a new tax structure that will not cause hardships for stakeholders.
The Finance Minister, also during the Budget Presentation, gave notice of the administration’s intentions to remove the Excise Tax on motor vehicles that are under four years old and lower than 1500cc.
These vehicles currently attract Excise Tax at a rate of 30 percent with an effective tax rate of 118.7 percent. With this removal, Jordan explained, the effective tax rate will be reduced to 68.2 percent.
Another major impact from the budget would be the reduction of excise tax from 50 percent to 10 percent on motor vehicles under four years old – that is for vehicles between 1500cc and under 2000cc. The effective tax rate of 152.3 percent for this category will be reduced to 85 percent.
Used tires
The GRA representative was also asked for a status on the ban of used tyre. Low stated that GRA has not received any further instruction from the Ministry of Finance with regards to any implementation, so there is no law and no confirmed date of implementation.
Due to this, Low stated that there has been no move by the GRA in terms of monitoring.
He disclosed that negotiations are still on-going. Low stated that several dealers had met with the Minister of Finance recently and inquiring what was the outcome of that meeting, Low said that he would not be at liberty to discuss this.
There has been much scrutiny with regards to this particular measure. Several used tyre dealers have also formed an association, the Guyana Used Tyre Association (GUTA) with hopes of persuading the government to reverse this decision to ban the importation of used tyres.
Several others have stepped to the forefront hailing the proposal as a timely one, since Guyana is being burdened with the number of used tyres which contribute to health and safety issues.