Business

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Earlier this week the Guyana Revenue Authority and sections of the local private sector- specifically the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce- clashed head-on over the implementation of the new Value Added Tax (VAT) with both sides trading accusations about the veracity of each other’s actions.

Chairman of Banks DIH Ltd Clifford Reis says in his report on the performance of the company for the year ended September 30, 2006 that the failure of the Government of Guyana to honour its obligations for the repayment of bonds to Citizens Bank Guyana Inc was the primary reason for the less than anticipated level of after tax profit achieved by the bank in 2006.

There is a distinct air of worry about the demeanour of some of the leading players in the country’s forestry sector.

The controversy between the Interim Management Com-mittee of the Linden Mayor and Town Council and the Kashif and Shanghai Organization over the payment to the Council of fees for the staging of the 2007 Linden Town Week may rob the entire community of the economic benefits that could derive from the successful staging of the event, according to Director of the Kashif and Shanghai Organization Kashif Mohammed.

The third phase of a project initiated by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds that seeks to create a commercial honey-producing capacity among residents of the Upper Mazaruni has been completed according to Project Coordinator Linden Stewart.

Last time we saw that Government initiatives to automate and streamline its services fell into three classifications viz.,

Basically, every organization, from a one person start-up to multibillion dollar conglomerates, is at some phase of a business growth or development cycle.

Projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Ministry of Finance in Trinidad and Tobago on the contribution that Value Added Tax (VAT) will make to total revenue collection in 2006 indicate that VAT could account for as much as 14.3 per cent of revenue collected in 2006.

Exports of non-traditional agricultural produce increased last year over the previous year by 165 tonnes contributing US$6 million ($1.2 billion) to the country’s export earnings.

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.

A former senior official in the local bauxite industry has told Stabroek Business that it is unlikely that the Government of Guyana can do a great deal to reverse the recent sale by IAMGGOLD of its 70 per cent stake in the bauxite operations at Linden to the Chinese mining giant Bosai.

Controversy associated with the January 1, 2007 implementation of the new Value Added Tax (VAT) persisted throughout the week as public disquiet grew over glitches in the application of the new tax regime.

The new Value Added Tax (VAT) which came into effect from January 1 this year appeared to have gotten off to a less than auspicious start with trading in the city being marked by a number of VAT-related controversies between businessmen and consumers.

The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc is continuing its campaign to bring defaulters on electricity payments to justice and recently won judgement in three cases brought before Commercial Court Judge BS Roy.

This newspaper has published several articles on the delinquency of employers in the matter of remitting employee National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions.

Notes 1 – Interim results 2 – Prospective EPS: earnings per share for 12 months period to the date the latest financials have been prepared.

Lawyers for the plaintiff, Citizens Bank Inc, and the Defendant, the Attorney General representing the State of Guyana, have lodged written submissions with Justice Roy in the Commercial Court in the case that involves US $21.4 million worth of bonds issued by the Government of Guyana to the creditors of Guymine when that state-owned company was restructured in 1992.

The enhancement of employee capacity and improvement of information technology associated with upgrading the customer care and service delivery capacity of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) has been identified as one of its major priorities under a reform project aimed at overhauling critical aspects of its operations.