Some leading professionals are yet to comply with Income Tax Act stipulations.

The Official Gazette of Guyana, dated April 17, published the names of all of the professionals who were recipients of tax practice certificates between January 1 and March 19.

Guyana has a battery of lawyers who ply their trade on a daily basis but in Georgetown there were only 19 persons named.

Among the names on the list of Attorneys-at-Law with their certificates to practice were Members of Parliament Bibi Shadick and Moses Nagamotoo.

Some of the other names appearing on the list include Gregory Gaskin, Robin Stoby, Kashir Khan, Robin Hunte, Nicole Pierre, Jamela Ali and Rosemarie Choo among others.

Glaringly absent were the more high profile lawyers such as Bar Association President Teni Housty, Khemraj Ramjattan, Raphael Trotman, Nigel Hughes and Basil Williams among others.

In the field of Accountants/Tax Consultants, only eight were recipients of Tax Practice Certificates in Georgetown, while there was one other in Linden. Christopher Ram is amongst the list of persons that were not issued with a Tax Practice Certificate.

In February this year, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) had threatened to take legal action against professionals, including lawyers and doctors, who operate without their practice certificates.

A Tax Practice Certificate is valid for one calendar year and is renewable annually.

All applicants must uplift and complete an application form from the Compliance Section, Tax Operations and Services Department, G.P.O Building or any Regional Branch Office.

The First Schedule of the Tax Act Chapter 80: 01 categorises professional groupings and charge professional fees based on this.

Professionals are also required to have a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and should submit all outstanding returns in accordance with Section 60 of the Income Tax Act, and pay taxes due including advance taxes and the requisite professional fee.

Category A of professionals include- Accountants, Auditors, Legal Practitioners, Medical Practitioners, Architects, Dentists and Optometrists who must pay $250,000 for the practice certificate; Category B- Engineers and Veterinary Surgeon - $150,000; Category C- Physiotherapists, Pharmacists and Surveyors – a sum of $75,000 is required.

“Professionals who qualified within three years preceding the date of the application for the practice certificate are permitted to pay $25,000 and shall thereafter be liable to pay the full prescribed fee.