Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, has issued a stark warning about the implications of a recent High Court ruling involving businessman Azruddin Mohamed and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), saying the decision effectively strips the state of one of its most critical powers.
The matter stems from a ruling handed down by Justice Gino Persaud, who determined that the Revenue Authority could not impose post-clearance taxes. The GRA has already moved to appeal the decision.
During a recent discussion, the host asked how the judgment affects the state’s ability to recover taxes owed. Nandlall responded by stressing that the authority to secure outstanding taxes is one of the most fundamental powers the state holds.
“As I have said recently on more than one occasion, the state’s power vested in various pieces of legislation to recover taxes that are due, owing and outstanding is second only to the state’s ability and power to defend itself,” he explained. “It is a sacrosanct power and it’s a power that is of paramount importance.”
The Attorney General underscored that taxes sit at the top of the hierarchy of debts, describing them as “the lifeblood of a nation” and “what runs a country.” He noted that several laws, including the Income Tax Act, Customs Act, Property Tax Act, and Companies Act, give the state up to seven years to review, reassess, and recover taxes.
According to him, the ruling blocks these long-standing statutory powers.
“What this judgment in essence has done is to render ineffective, to cripple the state’s power to recover taxes,” he argued. If upheld, he said, every tax declaration accepted by GRA would become final, even in cases where fraudulent particulars later come to light.
“That power that GRA has by this judgment has been rendered nullified,” Nandlall warned.
He stressed that routine tax filings include forms binding taxpayers to possible reassessments, a process embedded in law. Removing that ability, he said, runs counter to Parliament’s intent and undermines the system designed to ensure fairness and accuracy.
“This judgment obviously is an aberration. It cannot withstand objective scrutiny because here you have a judicial officer that is taking away from the state power that Parliament has vested in the state,” the Attorney General stated.
He added that the ruling’s logical conclusion would mean “GRA has lost the ability to ever reassess and recompute taxes and is bound by every declaration and every submission that a taxpayer pays.”
“So taxes in the country now will be determined by the taxpayer and not the state. At what level can that ever make sense?” he asked.
