Open to reasonable taxation
A body representing internet café owners says that it will comply with any reasonable taxation imposed on their businesses and warns that the blocking of internet calls will severely affect over 7000 persons.
The Internet Interest Holders Group, a body of internet café owners and managers which was formed following the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) announcement that it will pursue and prosecute such business that offer international telephone calls over the internet since it was “illegal”, is appealing to the government to help resolve the issue.
In a press release, issued under the name of Netsurf Manager, Stephen Thomas, the Group said that last week’s blocking of Voice Over Internet Protocols (VOIP) on Dialup and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) by telephone company, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) will force many businesses to close their doors and send home staff since they cannot afford to retain their services.
It said that this move targets some 600 internet cafes, which accounts for about 7200 persons. “The more alarming issue is that this move comes around a time when the United States of America is in the middle of one of the worst depressions in its history”, the statement said adding that since the unemployed persons cannot afford to pay their utility bills they may possibly be forced to become desperate and begin illegal activities.
The statement assured the GRA that it will comply with any reasonable taxation that will be determined by legislation and appealed to the government to make the necessary adjustments to resolve the issue “so as to ensure stability in this sector”.
The group said that the effects of the move will also indirectly affect the national foreign exchange take since “the poor people who use the internet are persons who are trying to cut back on expenses and would be forced to minimize the time spent on long distance calls to their friends, family and business colleagues internationally”.
It asserted that on previous instances, the government ruled in favour of services like Mediaring and Dialpad signaling their interest in innovation in the telecommunications sector.
The statement declared that the restrictions and limitations on the use of these services is a blatant attack on the rights of citizens to the use of the internet. It asserted that the telephone company’s blocking of VOIP’s and VPN’s implies aggressively that the company’s services must be used to make international calls which happens to be more expensive and said that the service and rates of the GT&T can be much better. GT&T could not be reached yesterday for a comment.
For quite some time the internet in Guyana was known as an avenue that allowed persons to communicate and share information internationally with greater advancements as technology and education developed, the group said. Businessmen have observed that there is potential in the internet in developing a new revenue base, the Group observed. It appealed to the public to support the lobby for lifting sanctions against the internet.
The GRA, in a statement late last month had said that a large number of persons and entities have become illegally involved in the international telephone call business and the entity is moving to prosecute them. “These individuals and businesses have essentially created illegal telecommunications networks that employ authorized VSAT equipment for unlawful purposes or VSAT equipment without the requisite licenses, SIM banks, broadband, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and international Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) providers like Vonage, Skype, and Packet 8 to offer outbound and inbound voice calls to the public for a fee. These operations are illegitimate and essentially result in tax evasion since no revenue is paid on these calls,” the GRA had declared.
It had said that such operations are increasing rapidly and its calculations indicate that their collective impact on the national revenue collection effort is too significant to ignore. Government has supported the revenue body and urged the entity to aggressively pursue the tax evaders and enforce the law.
The internet group urged public support via emails to icoauguyana@yahoo.com or by phoning 698-6153.
The GRA deh pon stupidness. How come they now know the internet cafes are illegal when they been operating for years now…..It’s Christmas time (even though the Christmas feelings is not in Guyana as yet) and many people in Guyana will wanna call their families and friends oversneeze (lol)
To call the states was $20 a minute now it might cost $200….well me nah call nobody fuh that price unless its lil money i begging fuh!!
Lemme tell you people how GRA is politically based and bad minded….there was a show about a month ago at the Stadium…a rice fest they called it and it was backed by the Ministry of Agriculture and many other governmental organizations……Usually the GRA would be at the gates of all shows counting the people that are entering and then taxing the tickets at the end of the show…..but they weren’t there doing that, they were at the Vybz Kartel show though and counting all tickets because the promoter wasn’t a PPPC supporter!!
Re: “The group said that the effects of the move will also indirectly affect the national foreign exchange take since “the poor people who use the internet are persons who are trying to cut back on expenses and would be forced to minimize the time spent on long distance calls to their friends, family and business colleagues internationally”. I am telling you “SandHurst First”; you may be on to a good thing; and, since you appear to like the keyboard a little bit (rather than guns, missiles…) you look into starting your own Information Technology (IT) business. Take a look at these links:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/os/warp-withdrawal/
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/category/uc2/
It is called – “Greedier The Government (GT&T) … Smarter The (Guyanese) Population”
How about you being our “point man” since you are on the ground. :-$ ;-)
If ya “Flooding Out…..” then you should have considered living in a “Boat House”.
The worse might be yet to come for “Below The Sea Level Georgetown” So, Ya Better heed The Warnings from People like “Rory Westmas” and move to higher ground before it is too late. :-\
I am not sure why this issue is getting this much airplay. The tyranny of the PPP continues. This was the same PPP that once opposed the GT&T monopoly but now seem to be in bed with GT&T.
The telephone company continues to thrive and be ATN’s cash cow. ATN (NASDAQ:ATNI) continues to thrive and pay healthy dividends to their investors while the people of Guyana suffer. Ironically, Guyanese cannot invest in the stock market in order to reap some rewards.
See:http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AATNI
Talk about strangling innovation, opportunity and competition. Technologically, Guyana is doomed to remain in the dark ages.
It reminds me of when Ma Bell had a monopoly on the telephone industry in the USofA and you were limited to what Ma Bell gave you. Ugly phones, land lines and a strangulation on technology. Since that monopoly was broken up the phone industry has taken off leaps and bounds.
yes i can remember that time nuff, now it’s far better.
I talked to some people yesterday who are using Magic Jack on Virtual Private Networks(VPN), and it is fine with high speed internet.
Leo Rojo
This just don’t make sense, i think the gra is out of touch,and wants to stifle young entrepruneurs in guyana.
Re: “This just don’t make sense, i think the gra is out of touch,and wants to stifle young entrepreneurs in Guyana”. If I am not mistaken the move to go after the Internet Cafes’ in Guyana was originated at the “so-called” cabinet level of government in Guyana. Do some research and find out. After the imposition of the VAT… all this appears to be doing is to keep certain members of the Guyanese populace in perpetual poverty but Guyanese are known to be smart people. ;-)
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/category/uc2/
Wake up and Wise up Guyana!
and they wonder why crime keep going up and up. they keep cutting down opportunities for the samll business instead of coming to the plate and make it a win win situation for all. i tell u. around the holidays @ that. the government should be creating jobs and they thought the economic crisis in the us would not affect them. yea, they are right, for they are and have been creating their own crisis for years and years and years and…………
The GRA is scrambling the crumbs and leaving the loaves. They should go after those that are putting up the big buildings, those that own four and more cars, those that travel every week out of the country etc.
I sent a 15″ computer monitor which can also work as a TV with an adapter to my poor maid, she had to pay G$30,000 in duty and VAT. It cost me in Canada G$10,000. A 15″ TV, might sell for less than G$30,000 in Regent St.
People in Guyana are still asleep and it seems that they will never wake up.
Balwant i agree with you they are squeezing the lifes blood out of the poor man,Guyana will never make it out of the dark ages until the leaders are sent packing.What are they going to do when all those people are out of a job?
And you wonder why crime is so high?
Good Morning,
My two piece here is simple, is GTT going to block all sites that offer internet calls? What about those person who have the interenet at home and have their own accounts? what about PC-to-PC Calls? If GTT has so much problem with this why dont they offer this type of service. Most Instant messengers offer Internet calls, does this means GTT will be blocking these services too?
Why is it that GTT is trying to impose itself on the people of Guyana. When they had the Monopoly on Cell Phone Service they literally abandon their expansion of land lines to capitalize on the growing demand for cell service. Now that they have been out maneuvered in the cell arena by Digicel they are trying to ramp up revenue by blocking internet calls, hoping that those net cafe callers would all have a divine awakening and flock to GTT with their hard earn dollars. This is a short sighted approach by GTT because i don’t see those persons who frequently make overseas call for 20$/min paying 200$/min for a call to the states and other countries. What GTT should be concentrating on now is it’s expansion of landline as a means of bring in the needed revenue.
Could anyone believe it that after 16 years of GTT operating in Guyana there were less than 80,000 landlines (Excluding Business lines) as of 2005 but they provided cell service to over 200,000 cell users in a matter of 5 years for that same period. Where they failed in my opinion is the lack of foresight about the amount of revenue that can be earned from landlines. I am sure there are 200,000 person still waiting for landlines service. I live 14 years between Buxton and G/town and have applied for landline service roughly 5 times within this period and the only response i got was that there are no lines in your area.
It is time GTT seriously focus on their landline expansion and leave this battle with the the net cafes for another time.
However, you internet cafe owners it is time you pay taxes like everyone else.
Re: “However, you internet cafe owners it is time you pay taxes like everyone else”. How much taxes do the Hire Car (Drivers and Owners); and, the Mini-Bus (Drivers, Conductors, Owners…) in Guyana pay? The prices of gasoline… have gone down and like (the airline companies…) they are still ripping those poor passengers off. When is the GRA going to go after the folks in this sector of the Guyana economy people?
Re: “[...Most Instant messengers offer Internet calls, does this means GTT will be blocking these services too?...]” There are also “VIDEO SHARING TECHNOLOGIES” available for people, businesses anywhere around the world to communicate, coordinate and collaborate with each in “REAL-TIME”! ;-)
See my earlier post in response to to the SANDMAN.
It appears that moves like these (in addition to that of denying Stabroek News (SN) Advertising Revenues, restriction on TV access in Linden….) are all designed to keep the Guyanese people down (backward, under-educated….).
“Knowledge Is Power”
Cheers!
pepie afterall it is a bunch of blind people all over guyana.the managers at gtat cannot see the light.they dont know how to do business.i suggest that the government open up the market and allow digicel to offer customers this same service.
I smell PPP the have a lot of business in gt not paying taxes others are paying a ridiculous amount and now the are going after anything that is going to help the small man..GRA go after those big names who are not paying taxes…
Back trak operaters!….known as business men, gun runners/drug dealers, gra still trying to collect tax and can’t. It tells the story about Guyana. If you can go after the internet service, why can the GRA not go after the business that are fronts for drug operaters/gun runners? Why….GRA? These business are in front you all over the country. Why..? Does the GRA expect to find these business men through the Internet Cafe. Well let wait and see what comes out of the 4th fleet operation for goods heading this way..
Clearly this is a move to protect the company that the gov’t will give the telco. contract to after GT&T expires in 2010.
Who said they’re not forward thinking?
This market will not open after GT&T.
Sicknin iah….
Politics – er Politricks er Politricking nah Politaking Yea that’s it – Politaking nah that don’t sound right Multipolitaking – That’s it!!! Like in multitasking but this one means ………………Taking from all viable sources at the same time!!!!!
lol