President of the Guyana Bar Association, attorney Khemraj Ramjattan says the hike in the Practice Certificate fee for lawyers and other professionals from $10,000 to $250,000 is without justification.

In an interview yesterday, he said the association was considering taking steps legal and otherwise, to address the issue of the hike of certificate fees and the introduction of the new service fee.

He added that the 10% Service Fee on a number of professional services, including those of auditors, lawyers, engineers and architects, would also be a heavy burden in the current hard economic times.

Ramjattan said some lawyers did not pay their dues to the Internal Revenue Department (IRD) and as such those who did would be penalised along with the delinquent. “For those who pay, it will be extremely hard, especially for the young lawyers.” “What the IRD should have done was get those delinquent lawyers to pay what they should under the old regime.”

Stabroek News also sought the reaction of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) to measures contained in the Fiscal Enactments (Amendment)Bill which came into effect yesterday.

Captain Gerry Gouveia of THAG told Stabroek News the 10% service tax imposed by the bill, on food and beverages served in hotels over 16 rooms, was untimely and that anything to raise prices would be a deterrent and ultimately punitive to the industry. He added that the tips which would have usually gone to the workers in the hospitality industry would now go to the government. He made the point that a lot of Guyanese go to hotels like the Le Meridien Pegasus which “may now become off limits to some Guyanese.” He added that there had been no consultations with the association on the proposed rate hikes.