Guyana gives nod to removal of tax on cell phones

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana government Thursday night successfully tabled legislation removing the 20 per cent tax on cell phones.

Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, said the Confirmation of the Customs (Amendment of First Schedule) Order of 2023 is in keeping with a commitment made by President Irfaan Ali last June and that the impact will be felt across the country.

“With the confirmation of this order, every cellular phone that comes into Guyana will no longer attract a 20 per cent duty that previously it would have attracted, and that immediately will redound to the benefit of the consuming public,” Singh told legislators.

He said that ultimately, it will result in cell phones becoming even more affordable to the population.

Singh said that the removal of the 20 per cent customs duty on cell phones should not be seen in isolation as it forms part of a series of measures taken by the government aimed at promoting improved connectivity and increased access to telecommunications services at a reduced cost.

“It would sir, be recalled that one of the first actions taken by His Excellency, the President, when he assumed the presidency in August 2020, was to bring into operations the new Telecommunications Act, and that Act, of course, paved the way for the introduction competition in the Telecommunications Sector, and promoted increased private investment in telecommunications infrastructure.

“The result, sir, has been the billed out of telecommunications infrastructure, including the landing of new international or transnational fibre optic cables,” Singh added.

The liberalisation of the telecommunications sector has also resulted in the entrance of new companies into the sector, resulting in the expansion of connectivity services in Linden, Essequibo and Berbice.

In 2021, the Value Added Tax (VAT) on residential and individual data was also removed, while in 2020, VAT was removed from the purchase of cell phones.

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