Guyana businesses making payments to non-residents must first identify the correct statutory pathway. Two important routes – Income Tax Act section 39 and Corporation Tax Act section 10B – have different tax treatment and must not be merged.
Because contracts, residence, payment character and treaty questions can change the result, obtain professional advice before paying a non-resident.
Section 39 payment categories
Income Tax Act section 39 applies Third Schedule withholding to controlled categories of gross distributions and payments involving non-residents.
The covered source set includes categories such as:
- distributions to a non-resident;
- specified interest and discounts;
- rent and royalties;
- management charges;
- personal, technical, managerial or professional services;
- premiums, commissions, fees and licences; and
- specified periodic payments.
The current local-law Third Schedule rate is 20 percent for the controlled categories in the pack. That is category-specific; it is not a universal rate for every payment.
For a payment actually subject to section 39, the section provides its bounded final-tax treatment and requires the payer to give the recipient a written statement of the gross amount, tax withheld and actual amount paid.
Section 10B non-resident company contracts
Corporation Tax Act section 10B separately imposes 10 percent withholding on gross payments to a non-resident company for a contract undertaking.
The withholding base is gross, without deduction. The amount is a credit against the non-resident company’s corporation tax; it is not treated as section 39 final tax.
A payment made through an office, branch or agency in Guyana is still deemed to be a payment to the non-resident company within the provision.
Failure to deduct section 10B withholding may attract a penalty equal to the amount that should have been withheld.
Keep the deadlines separate
For section 39, the payer must account for and pay over the withholding within 30 days after the payment or distribution.
For section 10B, withholding is remitted within 30 days from the payment to the non-resident company.
The monthly G0022 withholding-tax return is separately due by the 14th day after the month in which the deduction was made.
The 30-day payment-over rule and the 14th-day monthly-return deadline govern different acts. Meeting one does not automatically satisfy the other.
File the G0022 return electronically
Current GRA operations require withholding-tax collectors to file electronically through eServices.
The process uses one CSV file per month. The file is uploaded, validated, corrected where necessary and then submitted.
The G0022 ET7 workbook is a preparation utility only. It is not the filed return. Its payment-method field describes how the payee was paid and does not establish the complete ways to pay the tax to GRA.
Keep proper tax records for at least eight years. A non-resident company operating in Guyana keeps relevant records in Guyana.
Treaty and resident-contractor cautions
GRA identifies double-tax arrangements with Canada and the United Kingdom and a multilateral CARICOM agreement. The approved pack does not establish treaty-specific rates, eligibility tests, beneficial-owner tests, evidence or relief procedures. Do not reduce a rate without confirming the controlling treaty or order and the procedure with a qualified adviser and GRA.
The former 2 percent resident-contractor withholding regime was repealed effective 1 January 2022. Stale references on older GRA pages or files do not revive it.
Before making the payment
- Confirm the recipient’s residence and legal form.
- Identify the exact nature of the payment and contract.
- Determine whether section 39, section 10B or another rule applies.
- Confirm the correct local-law or properly supported treaty rate.
- Calculate withholding on the correct gross base.
- Give the recipient the required written statement where applicable.
- Track the 30-day payment-over deadline and the separate 14th-day return deadline.
- Prepare and validate one G0022 CSV for the month.
- File through GRA eServices and retain the submission and payment evidence.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Applying 20 percent to every payment without classifying it.
- Treating section 10B withholding as section 39 final tax.
- Merging the 30-day remittance and 14th-day return deadlines.
- Treating ET7 as the filed return.
- Claiming a treaty reduction without exact controlling evidence.
- Applying the repealed 2 percent resident-contractor regime.
- Assuming a payee payment method is a GRA tax-payment channel.
Official sources
- GRA – Withholding Tax for Businesses
- GRA – Withholding Tax Return
- GRA – Policy 9 on Payments to Non-Resident Companies
- GRA – eServices
Editorial note
This guide provides general information, not tax, treaty or legal advice. Non-resident payment classification is fact-specific. Confirm the applicable provision, rate and procedure before payment.
