President Irfaan Ali has given instructions for more reliefs to be granted to cushion the effects that Guyanese are facing in the marketplace because of increased international shipping and freight costs.

The new measures which will be enforced by the Guyana Revenue Authority will see import charges being reduced to the pre-pandemic level in the calculation of the Customs Duties, Excise Taxes and Input VAT on imported goods.

News Source understands that the relevant aspects of the Customs and Value Added Tax Acts will be amended to reflect the concession.

The measure is expected to allow savings of up to $4.8 Billion to the consumer and business community over a six-month period.

Government agencies will be tasked to ensure the savings are passed on to the consumer and not pocketed by importers. The concession will take effect on invoices carrying dates from 1st August 2021 and it will remain in place until the end of January next year.

The move is expected to see a decline in the prices of imported goods. In the past months, importers have blamed the increase in various prices on shipping costs.

Duties, Excise tax and VAT are calculated using the cost, insurance and freight of the imports.

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