The question is who authorized the release of tax information to BJ?

All the Corrupt PPP/C defender gone dumb again.

Did someone bribe Kurshit Sattaur to get those personal information?

If something like this had happened in America, there would have been a Federal Case with the culprit given the boot.

Plot to destroy Kaieteur News…Sattaur remains mum on e-mail revelations

Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Khurshid Sattaur, is in no way fazed by the calls for his resignation or articles published against him. He contends that whatever he does is covered in law.

GRA’s Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur receiving the Cacique Crown of Honour National Award from President Bharrat Jagdeo in October 2011.

Sattaur, during an interview, yesterday, maintained that whatever he does in the execution of his duties is covered in law and as such he has nothing to hide or to be afraid of.
Asked whether he denies that he did in fact share tax information of privately owned media houses with the former President Bharrat Jagdeo, Sattaur said, “No comment.”
Sattaur announced, too, that he is getting a lawyer to deal with the matter in court.
According to Sattaur, he is building a case against the Kaieteur News and its publisher Glenn Lall.
Sattaur said that he is in possession of a recorded conversation between himself and Lall. The contents of the conversation will not be published or shared but rather will be tendered as evidence in the court, he said.
Sattaur claims that Lall called him and threatened to expose him.
According to Sattaur, whatever he has done in the course of his duty had been within the confines of the law.
“Let them dig more and write what they want…Let them write it in ‘dem boys’,” said Sattaur.
This publication on Sunday last, published a redacted email sent from Sattaur to Jagdeo, where he divulged tax information of several privately-owned media houses.
In another email, this time with Attorney General Anil Nandlall, Sattaur informed him that he had provided the former President with “information which I would expect he treats with the utmost confidentiality.”
According to the email, Sattaur informs Nandlall that “since we are in this thing together, I see no harm in sharing this with you. However, further to the assurances you have given me that the Government will be pursuing the newspaper for libel and other offences of a criminal nature, I will await the determination of such action before I provide you with the details on Kaieteur News. Of course I am deeply indebted to the Government for the confidence it places in me to continue to execute my duties as CG.”

Glenn Lall

He is further quoted as saying “I spoke with the honourable BJ and he suggested that the recent outrageous article published on me should for “media purposes” be attributed to the impending major audit of the Kaieteur News which in his usual irregular and surreptitious manner the newspaper was able to uncover….Please note however, unless there is a major gag order from the court with a threat of maximum imprisonment, I am not prepared to have this most recent proposed action made public…This as they say in proverbial language is likely to break the camel’s back and the individual may go berserk.”
Sattaur had sought to defend his actions saying that while the Income Tax laws make provision for certain tax information to be treated as confidential, there are several exceptions to this general rule.
Specifically, under S4 of the Income Tax Act a disclosure to the state is not prohibited, a disclosure for the purposes of the administration of the Act is allowed and a disclosure to any person with the authorization of the president is permitted under the law. These exceptions are further extended by the Revenue Authority Act, Act No. 13 of 1996. Under S23 of this Act disclosure is further allowed in four instances.
Checks with Office of the President revealed that there was no such request by Head of State, Donald Ramotar.
Ever since the damning revelations at least one political party has called for Sattaur’s resignation as the head of GRA.
According to some lawyers, the information disclosed by the GRA Commissioner-General to Jagdeo, represents a grave breach of the ‘Oath of Secrecy’ sworn to by Sattaur as an officer of the Guyana Revenue Authority.
In taking the Oath, Sattaur solemnly declared that he would “truly, faithfully, impartially and honestly execute the powers vested in him.”  He also swore not to disclose any tax information concerning any taxpayer.
The ruling People’s Progressive Party, would want to ensure the authenticity of the emails first.

Sattaur remains mum on e-mail revelations

The e-mail is the abuse of the office of the GRA. Who authorize the release of information to BJ?

Ofcourse it is and maybe Koorshit knows who pass the info to BJ

EMAILGATE

Guyana now has its own Emailgate. This has created a crisis in public trust, one that must be addressed as a matter of urgency by the opposition parties in Guyana. Leaked documents reveal a plot to destroy the Kaieteur News and to put its publisher away in jail for a long time. This is a most serious development and one that trumps the plans hatched in the 1960s by the CIA to kidnap Cheddi and Janet Jagan and exile them to Venezuela. Kaieteur News has been under threat for a long time. This is nothing new. But if what is revealed in the leaked emails are to be believed, then every business in this country, every citizen of this dear land, is under threat. Kaieteur News  has always taken steps to protect itself from the power of the State and from those who wish to destroy it because of what the newspaper  stands for and what it has been revealing about the governance of this country and the hijacking of the country’s economy by a small clique. Not everything that this newspaper knows has been made public because this newspaper has to protect its staff from harm and victimization. But Kaieteur News knew long ago about the plans that were being hatched to destroy it and its publisher. Those behind the plot against Kaieteur News were not fooling anyone. Their schemes were known because there are enough decent individuals in this country who, regardless of their political persuasion, do not like to see the innocent punished. And so they have always provided this newspaper with information about the conspiracies being hatched against it. This newspaper, for example, knew from day one that video recording equipment was secreted by a member of the oligarchy in a building nearby Kaieteur News so as to monitor who was bringing information to this newspaper. Kaieteur News knew that from day one that it was being monitored. It also knew when the monitoring stopped and it took steps to entertain those who were videoing the company. It also knew where the footage was going because persons who came to this newspaper were questioned about why they were visiting the newspaper. Kaieteur News also knew that there was a plan hatched to use the pages of this newspaper to attack its publisher who had offered a free column to the ruling party. The paper learnt that there was a plan to use this column to attack Glenn Lall. The emails recently released by this newspaper shows the depth to which those who wish to destroy this newspaper would go. But it is not Kaieteur News alone that is under threat. It is all Guyanese. When information that should be privileged is illegally disseminated then we have reached a stage in this country where nothing is safe. Every business in Guyana wants the information that is statutorily required to be submitted to the tax authorities to be kept confidential. No business in this country wants its competitors to know its turnover, its liabilities or the tax its pays. That information is privileged and the tax authorities are required to not make it available to unauthorized persons and entities. The President himself does not have a right to individual taxpayers’ information. The President can only designate to which entity such general information should be made available to. This is only usually for purposes relating to the making of policy. In the making of policy, it may be necessary for example for taxes are to be waived for a sector and in so doing for  the government to estimate what taxes will be lost or forgone. As such, the President may designate that the taxes paid for a particular sector be provided so as measure the impact of any concessions on overall taxes. But there is no known case of the President of any democratic country asking the tax authorities to provide anyone with information about what is the turnover, the liabilities and the taxes paid by individual players in a sector. The emails leaked to this newspaper indicate that information about most of the newspapers in this country was provided to an external source, someone who is close to the principal of a competitor within the sector. In recent times also commercial transactions of re-migrants have been revealed to the State-owned newspaper. This should never have been allowed. This is an intolerable situation which requires an independent investigation. This is not just a question about professional ethics. There are professional associations which require professionals conduct themselves in a manner that does not bring the profession into disrepute. A person found breaching an oath of secrecy can be disqualified from any professional associations to which he or she belongs. But more importantly, it is an offence under Section 4 the Income Tax Act of Guyana for there to be unauthorized release of information about taxpayers. This very section of the law that provides for such information to be privileged also creates an offense for the violation of secrecy. As such those guilty of such an offence may be prosecuted in a court of law. The first Order of Business when the National Assembly reconvenes should be a motion or resolution calling for an investigation into Guyana’s Emailgate.

"A person found breaching an oath of secrecy can be disqualified from any professional associations to which he or she belongs. But more importantly, it is an offence under Section 4 the Income Tax Act of Guyana for there to be unauthorized release of information about taxpayers. This very section of the law that provides for such information to be privileged also creates an offense for the violation of secrecy. As such those guilty of such an offence may be prosecuted in a court of law."

Sniff Sniff, I smell charges galore...Sniff Sniff

Come clean Councie Come clean there is still time.

Really!  Since when you converted to pro-America?  Bai, you  a real comic.

For a minute there I thought you were complaining about your sore vagina.