GraceKennedy Guyana Remittance Arm Challenges J$403-Million Tax Assessment

GraceKennedy Limited has confirmed that its remittance arm in Guyana is fighting a fresh tax demand from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the third such claim built on a reclassification the conglomerate insists runs counter to more than 20 years of returns the authority itself had accepted.

In a letter dated January 2026, the GRA served GraceKennedy Remittance Services (GKRS) Guyana with an assessment covering the 2022 to 2024 period.

"GKRS Guyana's tax liability for the period 2022 to 2024 was assessed by the GRA to be the equivalent of J$402.6 million, excluding penalties and interest if applicable," GraceKennedy noted in its annual report. "GKRS Guyana lodged an objection to the GRA's assessment on the basis that the GRA wrongly assessed GKRS Guyana as a commercial company and that GKRS Guyana had filed (and the GRA had accepted), returns for a period of over 20 years as a non-commercial company."

No provision has been booked against the figure, an indication that GraceKennedy's leadership expects the objection to hold up.

The row centres on the same classification question that has surfaced twice before. The GRA first moved in 2018, pegging GKRS Guyana's liability at J$253.7 million for the years 2010 through 2016. GraceKennedy took the matter to court and prevailed, only to have Guyana's Court of Appeal reverse that decision in 2020. A further appeal by the subsidiary is now awaiting a hearing date.

A second demand landed in September 2022, this one covering 2017 to 2021 and pitched at J$653 million before any penalties or interest. GKRS Guyana posted a bond for the disputed sum, filed objections and took the matter to the High Court, which issued a stay until the Court of Appeal rules on the underlying issue. Once again, no provision was set aside.

Should the revenue authority's stance ultimately prevail, the addition of penalties and interest would lift the bill well beyond the headline figure.

GKRS Guyana has operated out of Georgetown since 1993 and runs upwards of 50 outlets providing Western Union remittance and bill payment services.

The latest assessment piles further strain on GraceKennedy's money-services arm, which saw pre-tax profit slide 20 per cent in 2025 on the back of softer transaction volumes and squeezed margins. Group revenue for the year ended December 2025 climbed 6.4 per cent to $177.8 billion, but profit before tax slipped 16.7 per cent to $10.3 billion, dragged down by Hurricane Melissa, heavier insurance claims and increased credit-loss provisions.