President Ali pledges $200,000 tax-free threshold for workers before end of term

Thousands of Guyanese workers could soon take home more of their earnings as President Dr. Irfaan Ali has reaffirmed his commitment to raising the income tax threshold to $200,000 before the end of the government’s current term.

Speaking to workers gathered for the annual Enmore Martyrs Day observance on Tuesday, the President said the government’s goal is to continue easing the tax burden on working people while creating opportunities for families to improve their quality of life.

“The new base now is a new threshold, and we said that before the end of this term, that new base will be $200,000 upon which our workers would stand, $200,000 tax-free,” President Ali announced.

For many workers, the promise represents another step in a series of increases that have steadily reduced the amount of income subject to taxation since the PPP/C returned to office in 2020.

At that time, the income tax threshold stood at $65,000. Over the past five years, it has been increased repeatedly through the national budget, rising to $75,000 in 2022, $85,000 in 2023, $100,000 in 2024, $130,000 in 2025 and $140,000 this year.

The government says these increases have put more money directly into the hands of workers. The most recent adjustment alone removed approximately 5,000 people from the income tax net and injected more than $2 billion in additional disposable income into households across the country.

Addressing the crowd, President Ali pointed to the government’s broader record on workers’ welfare, including salary increases and pension improvements.

“Five years ago, the struggle was for a higher threshold. We delivered. The struggle was for higher salaries. We delivered. The struggle was for a better pension. We delivered,” he said.

The President stressed that the administration’s objective goes beyond increasing a single figure on paper. Instead, he said, the aim is to continuously improve the economic standing of workers and their families.

“Our level for the workers is not a hundred thousand. Our level is to move them from one status to the next status, so that their children can enjoy a different level upon which they start their base,” he said.

The announcement was made during the commemoration of the Enmore Martyrs, whose sacrifice remains closely linked to the struggle for better wages, improved working conditions and greater rights for workers in Guyana.