The umbrella trade union body, the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC), has issued a call for the Income Tax – Pay As You Earn (PAYE) – to be abolished.

At a press conference today, General Secretary of the GTUC, Lincoln Lewis said in an oil rich country such as Guyana, the Government must explore legitimate avenues to bring relief to ordinary citizens amid the consistent rise in the cost of living.

“Today, the GTUC makes a call to eliminate PAYE; activate the Unemployment Regulation in the National Insurance Scheme Act and bring down prices. The cost of living is too high. There is no way this should be acceptable given this new resource wealth, and the people are struggling and starving,” Lewis said. 

According to the veteran trade unionist, the working class in Guyana has been saddled with hefty taxes for far too long, while businesses and companies continue to benefit from a range of tax concessions. 

“The money that we give away, that the Government gives for concessions to companies is larger than the sum, far way larger than the sum that the workers are paying in taxes – PAYE (Pay As You Earn) – and it is the people who are employed are carrying that. The people who do the business, they get big tax concessions when they import equipment” Lewis pointed out.  

He said there are avenues that can be explored by the Government to fill the void if it heeds to the Union’s call for the elimination of PAYE from the tax system.

Weighing in on the issue, President of the GTUC, Norris Witter said as it stands the tax regime is discriminatory, favoring the rich and those in high offices. 

“I think by now it is common knowledge that the Chancellor, Chief Justice and the President pay no taxes but the ordinary suffering man is asked to pay taxes. The salary and wage earners, the pauperized workers of this country are sitting ducks to taxation,” Witter said. 

He said some major companies in the oil and gas industry have had their taxes waived by the State. 

Witter said the Income Tax paid by the working class, is no match to the billions of dollars in tax concessions given to businesses and companies. 

“The taxes that we forgo for ExxonMobil and also the vast concessions that are given to foreign investors, it is negligible” he said. 

The union said in the absence of such an initiative, the income gap continues to widen between the haves and the have-nots.

Related posts:

GTUC calls on Government to meet with GTU; Rubbishes VP Jagdeo’s statements on GTU General Secretary GTUC hopes for tax reform, cash transfers for citizens and abolishment of PAYE in Budget 2024 AFC calls on Government to adjust income tax threshold to ease cost of living burden GTUC raises concern over some oil and gas workers being prevented from joining unions