Another APNU/AFC tax measure reversed, another manifesto promise kept
-Capital Gains Tax Amendment Bill 2021 passed
The Government, staying true to its campaign promises, removed another draconian measure implemented by the APNU/AFC Government with the amendment of the Capital Gains Tax.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Hon. Dr. Ashni Singh said the amendment reintroduces an exemption for the disposal of assets owned for 25 years or more which the APNU+AFC Government removed.
“In other words, if you own a piece of property and had owned that property for 25 years or more and then disposed of the property, that transaction would not be subject to Capital Gains Tax,” the Minister explained.
The Coalition in 2019 amended the Act making it mandatory for the tax to be charged on those long-held properties. Dr. Singh said this meant regardless of how long someone owned an asset, when it is being disposed, it would be subject to Capital Gains Tax.
He noted that the Coalition’s action had been met with misgivings by the PPP/C.
“Particular the then Leader of the Opposition and now Vice President, had indicated very clearly a strong reservation that the removal of the 25-year exemption was going to result in many elderly Guyanese who had owned their property for a very long time, now having to bear the burden of paying Capital Gains Tax when they eventually disposed of their property.
As we did with so many other of the punitive tax measures that the APNU/AFC Government had put in place, we committed to reverse these punitive and draconian measures and we are now sir, delivering once again on that promise,” Minister Singh said.
The Coalition had passed the Capital Gains Tax Amendment Bill 2019 under the guise of making purchasing of houses easier for Guyanese. The then Finance Minister, Mr. Winston Jordan had said that persons would be exempted from the payment of Capital Gains Tax if they reinvested the proceeds from a house they sold in a house with a similar cost or more than the value, within 60 days of the fiscal year.