The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is currently negotiating with all commercial banks in Guyana to establish facilities that will allow taxpayers to pay their taxes electronically.
A release from GRA said that this decision was made in response to the high volume of traffic at the GRA’s new Headquarters in Camp Street Georgetown. Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur was quoted as saying, “As anticipated, since the consolidation of our Georgetown offices we have large numbers of persons visiting the location to make payments on a daily basis. From a security standpoint as well as the current parking dilemma, we are trying to reduce the number of persons having to visit this location. In order to remedy these problems, we are exploring the possibility of outsourcing some aspects of our revenue collection to interested parties such as our local commercial banks.”
He revealed that the commercial banks have agreed to work along with the GRA’s IT Department to have a tax payment feature added to the banks’ websites so that taxes can be paid online. In addition, a telebanking feature will also be implemented by the banks. Given the urgency of this matter and in the interest of security, it is projected that this initiative will be implemented by the end of the second quarter of this year.
The Commissioner-General pointed out that this system is not a new initiative on the part of the GRA. On October 1, 2012, the GRA commenced collaboration with a number of commercial banks to establish systems for motorists to renew their annual Motor Vehicle Licenc
es (MVL) at the local banks. Three commercial banks, Demerara Bank, Bank of Baroda, and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) were involved in the initial implementation.
