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“50% tax burden on the working and non working is not too far fetched. None of President Jagdeo’s predecessors has ever taxed their people as much as he did.” – AccountantBy: Amar PandayGuyanese accountant Christopher Ram of the accounting firm Ram and McRae, in a recent submission entitled VAT no burden: A different perspective, has examined from the prism of the working class, the reality of the Value Added tax and its enervating and stifling impact on the local economy.In this very thought provoking series, a number of very revealing points were made: “It is trite to state that VAT and excise taxes are borne by consumers, including the employed, retired and unemployed. While I have never subscribed to the straight Maths of adding the rate of income tax (33%) and VAT (16%) to arrive at the tax burden on the poor, the tax revenue data suggest that the 50 per cent tax burden on the working and non working is not too far fetched.”It was articulated in this regard that between “1992 and 2009, tax revenues have climbed from $17 billion dollars to ninety billion dollars. The employed category has seen its contribution to those revenues increase by 860 per cent from $1.3 billion to 13.2 billion.”The accountant articulated the view that for consumers, this however is no theoretical situation. VAT is a tax on the consumer. The poor, it was declared, do not earn enough to save; they are more affected by VAT than those who earn enough to save.Moreover, it was enunciated that “the evidence from economic research around the world indicates that tax rates have a direct influence on saving, entrepreneurship, lower rates of economic growth, reduced rates of personal income growth, lower rates of capital formation and lower than expected aggregate labour supply. In the case of Guyana, high tax rates may also cause outward migration and brain drain.”The suggestion was proffered that a burdensome rate of 16 per cent VAT could be reduced to 12 per cent. However, the government has demonstrated a particular recalcitrance in heeding such counsel.? At his press conference on Friday October 22,Walter Payton Jersey, last, President Jagdeo said that he did not view the value added tax as a burden and therefore there is no need to revise it.Christopher Ram has reasoned that a fundamental reason why the President does not view VAT as a burden may be that he pays no tax in Guyana. It was divulged that under Section 13 of the Income Tax Act,William Perry Jersey, his official emoluments are exempt from income tax.Moreover, Section 6 of the Property Tax specifically makes that act inapplicable to the President while Section 5 of the Capital Gains Tax says that if property taxes do not apply, then neither could Capital Gains tax.This recalcitrance has, however, prompted a collection of scathing critique from various quarters. The PNCR long-serving and now dead shadow Finance Minister, the late Winston Murray,Dick Butkus Bears Jersey, described a 16 per cent VAT as “flesh eating and gruesome.”Christopher Ram has said that both the President and the Minister of Finance were aware that the 16 per cent was in fact the result of a mistake which the government had discovered very soon after VAT’s implementation.However,Jay Cutler Jersey, instead of making the necessary amendment,Walter Payton Bears Jersey, the administration,Tony Dorsett Cowboys Jersey, facing advocacy to reduce the rate, extended a deceptive compromise by agreeing to monitor implementation and make adjustments as necessary.Accountant Sasenarine Singh in his analysis of President Jagdeo’s taxation policy posited that none of President Jagdeo’s predecessors has ever taxed their people as much as he did. Singh was able to point out that in 2009, the Jagdeo administration raised $94,890million in current revenue which converts to US$464 million. This level of taxation was contrasted with that of the President’s predecessors.In 1966,Ezekiel Elliott Jersey, 1973 and 1984, the Forbes Burnham administration raised $86 million, $162 million and $600million respectively. In real Net Present Value US Dollars terms, this converts to US$333 million, US$372 million and US$282 million in 2009 value.Desmond Hoyte raised $ 1, 926 million and $ 15,Deion Sanders Jersey,970 million in taxes and fees respectively in the years 1987 and 1991. In Real Net Present Value, this translates to US$110 million and US$225 million in 2009 value.In 1996, Cheddi Jagan raised $ 35,Alshon Jeffery Jersey,117 million while Janet Jagan raised $36, 838 million in 1999. In Real Net Present Value US Dollars terms, this converts to US$ 343 million and US$262 million respectively. Singh pointed out that the 2009 increase in taxation from 1999 is 157%.Singh was able to conclude from his analysis that the Guyanese working class is experiencing the highest taxation burden ever since independence starting from 2009. Moreover, it was concluded that the Guyanese working class is funding the expansion of the gap between the rich and the poor.Over the years, there has emanated a number of societal voices of remonstrance. In 2007, in an open letter to the President from Red Thread, the following was communicated to the President: “For all of us who are unwaged housewives and low waged workers, women and men out of jobs and pensioners, the rises in prices since VAT was introduced are not “glitches” as the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) calls them; they are a tragedy, and they are making our lives and the lives of our families unbearable.”Christopher Ram is of the view that VAT should be made into an election issue: “I am prepared to consider casting my vote for a party that commits itself to correcting the dishonesty that has characterized VAT.”The synopsis of these societal voices of critique and remonstrance is that a burdensome 16 per cent VAT could be lowered to 12 per cent.? Such a reduction would be timely at a juncture with strained and somewhat bellicose industrial relations, which, evidences a considerable cost of living. Such a reduction would translate to a tangible alleviation and amelioration of the poor and working class.