Stabroek News attempting to mislead public on VAT impact
-- GINA
Guyana Chronicle
January 23, 2007
THE Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday said a report in the Stabroek News last Sunday on the Annual General Meeting of Banks DIH Limited, held Saturday, was “a deliberate attempt to misrepresent the facts regarding the impact of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on the company, and the business community as a whole.”
In a statement, the agency said the Stabroek News article, headed ‘VAT will cost Banks DIH $200-$300M a year’, seeks to create the impression that VAT will unleash a sizeable burden on the company, contrary to pronouncements by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) pertaining to the financial impact of VAT on the business community.
According to GINA, the article attributed these comments to Chairman and Managing Director of Banks DIH Limited, Mr. Clifford Reis but said a release from the company yesterday states that “this is a misrepresentation of what was intended”.
The agency said the release further indicates that VAT is not a cost to the company and is added to the product at the point of sale.
“The extensive coverage of VAT, before and after its implementation, and recorded in the Stabroek News itself, clearly states that registered businesses can recoup the input costs on their products from the GRA, and as such, will not be financially burdened by the administration of the tax”, GINA said.
The Stabroek News article, it said “therefore flies in the face of logic and common sense, since any perception that VAT will result in financial hardship to any company is ridiculous, and as such, can only be interpreted as an attempt to create mistrust between the business community and the GRA.”