The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association [GGDMA] wishes to remind individual miners that the Hon. Minister of Finance in his 2018 National Budget Speech allowed for tax to be assessed on a sliding scale, and that such tax will be a final tax on income from gold produced from your dredges and declared and sold to the Guyana Gold Board. Thus the tax assessed on income derived from gold produced from your dredges will be treated as final tax as of 2018 once declared and sold to the Guyana Gold Board or Licensed Dealers. This is what the Government of Guyana [GOG] represented by the [Minister of Finance [MOF] and the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA)] and the GGDMA had agreed on in terms of taxation for the Gold and Diamond Mining Sector as of 2018. It was agreed that the replacement of the current ―2% of the gross proceeds regime with a sliding scale percentage that is based on the price of gold as follows:
Price of Gold [per ounce] | Percentage Income Tax Payable |
Under US$1,100 | 2% Income Tax [Final Tax] |
US$1,100 and under US$1,300 | 2.5% Income Tax [Final Tax] |
US$1,300 and under US$1,600 | 3% Income Tax [Final Tax] |
Over US$1,600 | 3.5% Income Tax [Final Tax] |
The GGDMA however represented to the Ministry of Finance that the change in the law did not reflect the understanding above as it relates to the final tax despite letters from the Commissioner General and the Minister of Finance advising of such treatment. Subsequently, based on such representations by the GGDMA, and for avoidance of doubt, Section 33 [E] (1) of the Income Tax Act was amended to reflect the concerns of the GGDMA, and will take effect from 2018 as agreed by the correspondences attached.