Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, today called on the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to ensure that taxpayers who are legitimately entitled to tax refunds receive these in a timely manner.
In a statement today, the Minister said that taxpayers often complain that they have to wait an inordinate length of time before they receive tax refunds to which they are entitled. He pointed out that extended delays in paying tax refunds can have severe adverse effects on the cash flow of businesses and households, which in turn could hinder both consumption and investment, and ultimately be a drag on economic activity.
The Minister stressed, however, that more timely refunds should not in any way compromise the rigour with which the GRA verifies the legitimacy of the refund payable. Instead, Singh said that the verification and payment processes should be made more efficient to ensure that refunds are both thoroughly verified and promptly paid.
The statement said that Singh’s call for more timely processing of tax refunds comes against the backdrop of a broader drive for improved service quality across public sector agencies. At the GRA, Singh recently addressed senior management of the Authority and “directed them to work immediately to improve the quality of their interaction with taxpayers, emphasizing the importance of the highest standards of integrity and efficiency across all aspects of their operations”, the statement added.
