Why not require the internet cafés to pay tax?

Dear Editor,

I  refer to the issue of internet cafés and the GRA.

Why is it that every time young people in this country try to make something of themselves they are given the harshest treatment? Why can’t the Government of Guyana give young people a chance to grow?

I am 25years old and I have managed to open a small business which is in the nature of an internet café. Now this may seem a very profitable business, but it’s not. I make enough income to take me through UG where I am trying to educate myself and make myself a better person.

Now when the government is going to fight me down, a hard-working young man, to close down the one business venture that I have managed to keep alive to sustain myself, what are you telling me to do?

If I have a very lucrative business plan there is nowhere I can go to get financing, and so it is either forgotten or passed onto someone who has the finance. Please don’t even mention the small business loans; for you to get this you need to have $500,000 worth in assets to get to borrow $50,000, and tell me please, what business can you start with $50,000? The bottom line is, money makes money.

Please don’t get me wrong; I am fully aware that there are laws by which we must abide, but at the same time everyone has to survive, so what I am suggesting is that instead of putting a youngster who is trying honestly to make a living out of his livelihood, why not work along with him to make him better and by so doing make Guyana a better place.

Now it’s simple. I understand that revenue is lost due to the internet cafés because most outbound calls are made through the internet. To regain the tax all that has to be done is have the internet café pay whatever tax is required, so if someone makes a call from the larger providers or the internet café the country will gain its revenue. But then I’m sure you will tell me that there are contracts that prevent persons from making calls from networks other than GT&T, because they have the monopoly. That is another issue, because such arrangements need to be re-examined.

Growing up in Guyana I always thought that here was the place that I would always want to be, but each day as I live and I try all that I can think of, it makes me think differently. There is nothing here for the youths and we are either left to struggle until we reach where we are hoping to go, or in the worst case, if they are not strong enough they become criminals.

But luckily I’m a hard worker and when one door closes another one will open. When I have finished studying in about eight months time I’ll be making a choice of staying in Guyana and serving my country or going somewhere else. Which do you think I will make?

Yours faithfully,
R Blyden