The Guyana Revenue Authority says that a number of businesses are engaged in fraudulent practices and so the agency is urging  consumers to be  more active and vigilant by  reporting  any illegal activities  which they may encounter when purchasing goods from businesses.

“After conducting a number of searches, the GRA has gathered concrete evidence that a number of businesses are engaged in fraudulent practices and are in the habit of maintaining dual record books,” the GRA said in a news release.

Consumers desirous of reporting any information pertaining to fraudulent or illegal activities can call the GRA Intelligence Hotline on telephone no. 225-6687, and all information received will be treated with the strictest of confidentiality, the release stated.

GRA Commissioner-General Khurshid  Sattaur  is quoted as saying  that “the watchdog of the GRA is really the public, the consumers, those who are defrauded the most, those whose money is collected and not remitted, those who are swindled by these unscrupulous businesses, those who are tempted by these businesses with the question,  ‘Do you want a receipt  for which you will have to pay VAT or not?’”  When this occurs the taxes are being cheated by both the consumers and the businesses, he added.

These deceitful practices contribute to tax evasion by businesses and the businesses  continue to get richer while the public suffers from poor and inadequate public goods and services such as health care and social security  which is made available through taxes collected, the release noted.

Business persons engaged in fraudulent activities risk imprisonment and the payment of fines as well as payment of taxes due in addition to interest based on  the assessment of their tax liability.

And the law provides that in cases where offences are repeated, a business can be shut down for a period of 3 to 30 days.  “This may be the next remedy which we will have to institute in the near future, for those businesses who do not heed the call to correct what they are doing,” Sattaur  warned.