Income from employment in Guyana is taxed through PAYE, deducted by your employer each month along with your NIS contribution and paid over to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). There is a monthly personal allowance that is free of tax, then two rates — 28% and 40%. This guide gives an overview; the allowance and thresholds are set in the national budget and are raised most years. You need a TIN to be employed and to file.
Every employee has a personal allowance — around G$130,000 a month, or one-third of your gross income if that is greater — on which no income tax is charged. Your NIS contribution is also deducted before tax. What is left is your chargeable income.
PAYE is then charged at 28% on the first G$260,000 of monthly chargeable income and 40% on anything above that. Because only the income above the allowance is taxed, and each rate applies only to the slice of income within its band, a pay rise never leaves you worse off overall. With one job PAYE usually settles the tax; with several income sources or self-employment you file an annual return with the GRA.
The other compulsory deduction is NIS: 5.6% of your insurable earnings from you, with your employer adding 8.4%, up to the insurable earnings ceiling. That funds your future NIS Old Age Pension and other NIS benefits. Guyana has no separate education tax or housing levy on wages.
On top of what leaves your payslip, you pay Value-Added Tax (VAT) of 14% on most goods and services. A range of basic food items, medicines and other essentials are zero-rated or exempt, so the effective rate on a typical household basket is lower than the headline figure.
Contributions to an approved pension or superannuation scheme are deductible from your income, up to a limit — one of the few ways an employee can legally reduce PAYE. Your NIS contribution is also deducted before tax is worked out.
Your 'marginal rate' — the tax and contributions on your next dollar of income — is the PAYE rate for your band (28% or 40%) plus 5.6% NIS up to the ceiling. That matters when you weigh extra work, or decide how much to put into a pension scheme where the contribution comes out before tax.
Informational content, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check amounts, limits and current rules directly with the official sources (the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), the Bank of Guyana, Tax Administration Guyana, the the Deposit Insurance Scheme) before making a decision.
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