The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is relaxing the requirement of a driver’s licence for head teachers qualifying for tax exemptions to buy motor vehicles and is giving applicants an eight-month grace period to obtain their licences.
According to a GRA press release Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur made this announcement on Thursday. Sattaur said initially the GRA had required that head teachers that Cabinet deemed eligible for the exemptions submit their driver’s licence along with a personal application; recommendation from the permanent secretary at the education ministry; proof of address; TIN; a copy of their passport or national identification card showing name and date of birth; a quotation/invoice of the vehicle to be purchased and a Remission Unit Tax Exemption Application. He said “The GRA has been bombarded with queries about accessing these concessions” adding that the process has not been as easy as the Authority expected.
Sattaur said Cabinet has since issued a directive which the GRA will be implementing to grant the exemptions to teachers who may not possess a valid driver’s licence for a period of eight months. He said applicants should use this grace period to obtain their licence. It means too “that they are entitled to uplift their letter once they provide the GRA with the other required information,” he said.
The Commissioner-General also said the GRA is engaged in ongoing discussions with the ministry about relaxing other requirements that may have been satisfied since the teachers would have made their initial requests for the entitlement to be processed.
The GRA said eligible head teachers may download the remission unit application form from its website located at www.revenuegy.org
