Consumer Concerns
By Eileen Cox
Stabroek News
April 29, 2001

April 30. The date is significant for all those who must file income tax returns. Last year, on Sunday April 30, Mr Christopher Ram in his Business Page in the Sunday Stabroek, spoke very strongly on behalf of business. Today I wish to look at the concerns of the individual, especially the "sitting ducks" in the public service, the teaching profession, the police force, the medical profession and all salaried persons who are paying PAYE.

An allowance of $216,000 per annum, $18,000 per month, is not adequate as a deduction from salary, the "free pay" as it is called. What is happening is that individuals are being asked to pay income tax before they have fully paid rent for their homes. Where in Georgetown can a house be rented for less than $25,000 per month?



Take a look at the average monthly expenses for a family of four.

Rent $25,000
Food 22,500
Transportation 5,000
Electricity 2,500
Telephone 1,500
Cosmetics, etc, 3,000
Clothing (including
shoes) 3,000
Medical 2,000
Household cleaning,
cooking gas, etc. 1,000

This is a rough estimate but we can see that it adds up to $65,500 per month. One may well ask: How do the government-paid employees survive? If you listen to their complaints, you will hear that in the first week of the month their salaries have been expended. Many depend on relatives in the United States for survival. This reduces them to a state of mendicancy. Children grow up with no confidence that the state machinery will give them security in life.

I have also heard that some parents have to resort to moonlighting, that is, seeking a second job. Men run a hired taxi service at night: nurses do a double shift. Teachers give

extra lessons. Some parents can provide only one meal a day for their children. Where will it end?

To add to their impoverished state, in many families there is the unemployed relative or school leaver who cannot find employment.

Income tax should not be imposed as a penalty to keep workers in penury. To deny householders the right to claim for their spouses and for their children is imposing additional hardships on the family. For this reason, it can be reported in the Final Report of "Poverty and the 1999 Guyana Survey of Living Conditions" that 36.3 per cent of all persons in Guyana are living in Absolute Poverty. This is a shameful position and needs to be corrected.

We also have to remember that deductions are made from the salaries of all employees. In addition to NIS and PAYE, the government employee has to make a contribution to the Dependants Pension Fund although he has no say in the operation of the fund and has never been summoned to a general meeting. The consumer groups have for years been calling for a review of the Fund. No action is taken. We now seek to have it abolished and higher sums paid to the present pensioners.

Years ago, under the Burnham era, the Guyana Consumers Association was regarded as a pressure group. However, one Minister of Trade did say that he learnt more from meeting with representatives of the Association than from meeting his staff. The problem is that

the Association should be a pressure group ensuring that requests are considered and action taken. No considered opinion comes from the Ministry responsible for consumer affairs and thus our requests go unheeded. In my thirty years of consumer activity, only one request has been granted, the request for separate income tax submissions from working wives.

At the moment, it is not known under what Ministry the Consumer groups will fall. We would hope that some serious thought is given to improving the conditions of life in Guyana by ensuring that the Ministry understands our problems.

One last word. It is hoped that the cashiers at the Inland Revenue Department do not close their cages before they have dealt with all who are assembled in the building before the closing hour. It is also requested that notices be placed in all revenue collecting departments advising consumers of the forms and documents that are needed and also advising if cheques are accepted and where they can be deposited.