Kopinang in Region Eight was recently added to the list of interior destinations in Guyana to where persons resident in the area can travel or take cargo by air without having to pay Value Added Tax (VAT), joining a list of 53 other interior airstrips that enjoyed such status since February 2017.
“…VAT is exempt from airfares to transport passengers or goods to and from any of the rural airstrips [listed], provided that satisfactory evidence is submitted to the airline that the passenger is resident in the rural area,” the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) said in a statement yesterday. The statement was issued in response to claims made that the airstrips enjoyed the VAT exempted status only from this month.
The statement said that effective February 01, 2017, air travel to 53 interior airstrips were exempted from the payment of VAT and effective August 02, 2019 after representations were made, the Minister of Finance utilising powers vested under Schedule II – 13 (c) for the purpose of Section 18 of the VAT Act, exempted travel to the airstrip of Kopinang, thereby taking the total number of airstrips now exempted to 54.
“Contrary to reports in the press and the ruminations of one writer through Facebook postings, the 53 interior airstrips enjoyed the VAT exempted status since February 2017, and not August 2019. Further, it must be clearly understood that GRA cannot discontinue a tax or re-introduce a new one without appropriate legislation. The authority is tasked with administrating the tax laws of Guyana in a fair and consistent manner and intends to do so regardless of the government of the day,” the statement said.
