Justice Gino Persaud’s GRA ruling could incentivise falsification of documents – Pres Ali

… lauds Chancellor’s ruling on post-clearance taxes

President Dr Irfaan Ali has raised concerns about a recent ruling handed down by Justice Gino Persaud, warning that it poses a significant threat to the integrity of Guyana’s taxation system. He said the decision was “so flawed” that it could expose the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to increased risks of criminality and fraud by effectively enabling professionals to “incentivise the falsification of documents.”
According to the President, the ruling also undermines the very foundations of post-clearance mechanisms, which are essential for verifying the true value of imports and ensuring that the correct taxes are applied, even after goods have passed through ports of entry.

“It’s a ruling that was so flawed that it exposes our taxation system to criminality and fraud. For a matter of fact, the ruling of Gino Persaud is viewed by many professionals as one that can incentivise the falsification of documents. There is something that is called post-clearance. There is something in post-clearance that inherently deals with the verification of values and the ability of the Revenue Authority after verification to apply the right taxes.”
He added, “However, I am pleased at the recent and highly consequential decision delivered on the 17th of November 2025 by Madam Justice Roxanne George in the matter of Zhangzhen Yu and Guyana Revenue Authority. Justice George’s ruling brings clarity to an area of significant public importance. The authority of the Guyana Revenue Authority to conduct post-clearance assessments of imported consignments. Her judgement is compelling, meticulously reasoned, intellectually rigorous, and firmly rooted,” the Head of State contended.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday evening, President Ali said the Chancellor’s ruling provides long-needed clarity on the GRA’s authority to conduct post-clearance assessments of imported consignments and reaffirms Guyana’s alignment with global customs best practices endorsed by the World Customs Organization.
The President noted that post-clearance audits are not new and have long formed part of Guyana’s customs architecture, previously handled by the inspections division of the former Customs and Excise Department. As global trade evolved and customs systems moved toward streamlined clearance procedures, post-clearance verification became even more essential. The GRA, he said, has strengthened these systems in step with international norms, ensuring that declarations can be scrutinised after goods leave the port – a safeguard critical for accuracy, transparency, and the protection of state revenue.
President Ali emphasised that Justice George’s decision restores coherence to the law, especially when compared to Justice Persaud’s earlier ruling, which the GRA has since appealed.
“That ruling, now slated for appeal by the GRA, has been widely criticised as perverse, internally inconsistent, and disconnected from both established custom practice and the evident intention of the Custom Act 8201. Many Guyanese remain baffled by how such a conclusion could have been drawn, especially in circumstances where the GRA had contended that the importation under scrutiny involved falsified declarations relating to a luxury motor vehicle. If Justice Persaud decision is permitted to stand, its implications will be profoundly damaging. It would effectively erect a judicial barrier preventing the GRE from recovering taxes rightfully owed to the state once goods had been cleared,” he explained.
Such an outcome, he stressed, would be “wholly inconceivable in a lawful and orderly revenue system,” effectively rendering the Customs Administration powerless, encouraging dishonest declarations, and depriving the nation of substantial revenue. It would also undermine the fundamental purpose of post-clearance mechanisms, which he described as tools designed to facilitate ease of trade while still providing robust systems for verification.