Dear Editor,
The Second Vice-President of Guyana, Mr. Bharat Jagdeo, stated that Guyanese living abroad were eligible to receive the G$100K one-off cash grant the government has decided to give individual Guyanese. It is not clear if he was speaking about Guyanese living overseas temporarily or all Guyanese, including those who have chosen to live permanently abroad. Speaking on behalf of the government, Mr. Jagdeo said that the intended beneficiaries would have to supply their personal information through some app that was being created for this purpose. Presumably, the decision to seek the money remains with the overseas Guyanese. While the PPP would benefit from a database of possible voters, it raises questions about the gains for the overseas Guyanese.
Before proceeding to interrogate that question, it is appropriate to explore the value of the initiative proposed by the PPP to the country. It would be reasonable for persons living in Guyana to ask if it was proper for the government to give tax free money to persons who do not pay taxes in Guyana. It is also reasonable to recall that this cash grant was birthed out of citizens’ demands for measures to mitigate the high cost of living in Guyana. Consequently, the government needs to explain to Guyanese the benefit that the country will derive from carrying through with its scheme.
At the same time, the Guyanese abroad must ask themselves if their unintended exposure to the tax authorities in the USA and elsewhere is worth US$400. The government has made a public announcement about the eligibility of overseas Guyanese to receive the money. All US citizens and permanent residents are required to disclose their worldwide income when preparing their income tax. That would include money received from the Government of Guyana. Since the US and others are aware that there would be a central repository of the data, it can easily obtain the information of all US persons who got the money. Guyanese living abroad might have succeeded in keeping their income in Guyana separate from their foreign earned income. That might no longer be possible if accepting US$400 is worth the trouble. The clear beneficiary will the PPP who could easily, and would gleefully, use the data to rig the upcoming elections.
The attention of the US, for example, is already on Guyana for drug trafficking. Attention is already on Guyana for gold smuggling. Attention is already on Guyana for money laundering and terrorist financing. It is hard to believe that the US will not pay attention to tax evasion. It already does so with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Foreign Bank and Financial Report. Consequently, overseas Guyanese could end up paying higher taxes and the bill for the PPP to rig an election, the results of which they would not have to live with on a daily basis.
Sincerely,
Mervyn Williams,
Former Member of Parliament.
