Protesters against VAT on private school fees say private schools should be shut down if not tax compliant

"Send them to jail. Close them down, Close them down. Don't charge the vat to get tax from other people, close down those schools or those businesses that don't pay their tax. There are rules and laws, so close them down and that is my view", Mr. Roshan Khan said.

Protesters against VAT on private school fees say private schools should be shut down if not tax compliant

With the government still to make an official announcement over the removal of the 14% value added tax from private school fees, a small group of concerned persons picketed outside the Guyana Revenue Authority over the imposition of the tax  on private school fees in the first place.

While they said citizens should not be subjected to taxes on private school fees, they agreed that private schools are businesses and therefore ought to pay up the other taxes applicable to the GRA.

Business Executive, Roshan Khan, who led the protest, said private schools should be shut down if they are found to be non-compliant with the tax system.

Khan made it clear that his issue is about the tax on the high fees and not the high fees themselves. He noted that if parents want the best for their children, then that best would come at a price.

“Send them to jail. Close them down, Close them down. Don’t charge the vat to get tax from other people, close down those schools or those businesses that don’t pay their tax. There are rules and laws, so close them down and that is my view”, Mr. Roshan Khan said.

He was supported by another protester, Jonathan Yearwood,  who said he is an adult student furthering his education and would be subjected to the 14% tax on his tuition fees at a private institution.

He said the “GRA has to go behind those not paying tax, but don’t blame everybody for that. If a private school is not paying its taxes at the end of the year, GRA which is an enforcement agency, has to go behind those people. If I don’t pay taxes on my salary, GRA would run behind me, so if the private schools are not paying taxes, the GRA has to go behind them.”

Recently, Finance Minister Winston Jordan, revealed that many of the over 50 private schools in Guyana are not tax compliant. When the decision was made to add the value added tax to private school fees, Jordan was pushing for the schools to absorb the tax rather than pass it on to parents because, “they can afford it”.

Some private schools charge as much as $160,000 per year for nursery level children, while at the primary level, the fees are over $200,000 per year for some private schools. The private secondary school fees are even higher.

President David Granger is expected to soon announce a decision to remove the tax from the private school fees.

There have been calls over the years, for the private school system to be regularized as more private schools have been emerging. There are reports that many of the private schools have been dodging the tax system by being registered as non-governmental organisations or charities and religious organisations.

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