New tax regulations creating significant hardships for

The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has again expressed frustration over the new tax regulations.

The body has stated that the regulations have continued to create “significant hardships and chaos,” where those who are striving to be tax-compliant have lost skilled workers to non-compliant operators.

A statement issued by the GGDMA has said that most small and medium scale operators are bound to get into hot water in 2018, when the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) requests records to justify their operating expenses and payment of 2 percent withholding tax and 5 percent royalty.

“The Association remains very concerned that while the small and medium scale miners are publicly recognized for their production capabilities and stalwart contribution to the economy, their genuine issues remain unaddressed by the relevant authorities,” the statement declared.

According to the GGDMA, despite the execution of agreements since December 2016 with Government, to allow tax-compliant miners to benefit from certain concessions on fuel and materials utilized in the sector, none of these benefits has been realized by any miner.

“This is mainly as a result of bureaucratic bottlenecks experienced at the level of Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and other agencies. Over four months have elapsed since this agreement was executed, and less than eight months remain on the life of the agreement”, the GGDMA has lamented.

The Association has therefore questioned whether the Government is indeed committed to ensuring that these miners benefit from those concessions, or whether the agreement was executed mainly for “media propaganda purposes.”

Another area of concern for the GGDMA is the lack of knowledge among miners about the new tax regime and obligations to GRA.

The Association is now calling on all small and medium scale miners to immediately seek advice from a reputable accounting firm in order to become fully compliant.

“We do not believe that the majority of small and medium scale operators truly grasp what we are now faced with as regards record keeping, remittances of the higher tributor’s tax, filing of returns in 2018 etc. We believe that many miners are operating in a “business as usual” fashion, and they will not feel the brunt of their ill-advised activities until they have to make up their books and file tax returns come 2018,” it was further added.

While they did not disclose the details, the GGDMA also congratulated the miners for surpassing their gold declarations in the first quarter of 2017, as compared to the same period in 2016.

“All miners should be commended for continuing to play their crucial role in bolstering Guyana’s economy in this time of reduced investment and economic slowdown,” it said.

The Gold mining sector continues to be one of the main contributors to the economy. According to the World Bank, the economy is expected to grow by around 3.6 percent in 2017–19. Most of this growth is expected to come from continued rapid growth of gold production and in other sectors.