Written by Leroy Smith
Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia today (Thursday, June 08, 2017) announced that he will soon be introducing a policy banning the use of smartphones while in the Agency’s building.
The ban will affect both workers of the entity and members of the public who wish to transact business with the entity.
The move is seen as a way for GRA to stamp out the illegal sharing and leaking of tax payers information to persons who ought not to be in possession of same.
“I will be putting up a smart phone policy very soon because we need to stamp it out because anybody I find leaking tax payers information out there they have t go, it is a breach of secrecy. We have a fiduciary duty to the tax payers, and we need for that to be understand,” Statia told media operatives at the Agency’s headquarters on Thursday.
Statia made the comments while addressing how the information regarding Lance Wills and his duty-free concession was leaked to the public.
The Commissioner General pointed out that the while Willis might be an employee of the GRA, at the end of the day he remains a tax payer and as such, his information ought not to be shared.
“I have right now whether we like it or not will be enforcing because we need to understand that tax payers’ information are privileged information and if it is going to get out there by one way or the other very soon there will be no smart phones entering my building, both officers who work with me and tax payers” he noted.
There have been several leaks coming out from the GRA concerning certain information on tax payers. The GRA also addressed the issue of the armoured vehicle, registered to a prominent businessman and for which a payment arrangement has been entered into for the full taxes on the vehicle to be paid.
