Investment incentives and foreign investment legislation in Guyana

The Investment Act 2004: status, non-discrimination and open fields

The Investment Act 2004 (Act No. 1 of 2004, Cap. 73:03 in the Laws of Guyana, L.R.O. 1/2022) was passed on 15 March 2004 and assented to on 31 March 2004. It is the principal statute that renders into law the Government’s approach to the legal protection of investors. It is not itself a tax Act, and it does not, by its own force, grant a tax holiday or a customs waiver. Those reliefs, where they exist, are found in the fiscal statutes and in any investment agreement duly approved under the procedure described below. Company registration, immigration, sector licensing and land title are treated in the firm’s [note on doing business for foreign investors](/insights/doing-business-in-guyana-for-foreign-investors), which this note complements and does not repeat.

Section 2 defines a “domestic investor” as a citizen of Guyana; a body corporate established in Guyana in conformity with its laws and substantially owned and controlled by citizens of Guyana; or a citizen of any other member State of the Caribbean Community established under the Treaty done at Chaguaramas on 4 July 1973. A “foreign investor” is an investor who is not a domestic investor. Section 4(2) provides that there shall be no discrimination between foreign and domestic investors, nor among foreign investors from different countries. The treatment of a CARICOM national as a domestic investor is therefore a feature of the Act itself, and should be read with the firm’s [note on the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas](/insights/the-revised-treaty-of-chaguaramas-and-the-caribbean-community).

Section 5 provides that investors may invest in and operate enterprises in all fields of lawful economic activity, including, in particular but not limited to, agriculture, fisheries and forestry, manufacturing, energy, mineral extraction, handicrafts, communications and transport, construction, tourism, trade, and professional services, except for sectors which may be determined by the Minister, subject to affirmative resolution of the National Assembly. Section 6 provides that investors shall not invest in or operate investment enterprises which are prejudicial to national security, or detrimental to the natural environment, or (as the section continues) in other closed categories set out in that section, which should be read in the Act.

Protection of investments, land, repatriation and disputes

Section 13 provides that the Government shall protect investments and the property of investors in accordance with the laws of Guyana. Section 14 provides that the Government shall not compulsorily acquire or take possession of any investment enterprise, or any asset of an investor, except for a purpose which is in accordance with the laws of Guyana; on a non-discriminatory basis; in accordance with the procedures provided by law; with prompt payment of adequate compensation together with interest, calculated from the date of acquisition or taking possession to the date of payment, at the commercial bank rate on loans to the corporate sector; and with a right of access to the High Court for the determination of any interest or right and of the amount of compensation.

Section 15 provides that, subject to the laws for the time being in force, investors may purchase or lease land in Guyana and dispose of or transfer their interests in or rights over the land. The qualification is important. The provision is not a blanket override of other statutes. State lands, Amerindian lands, and titles connected with mining, petroleum or other regulated activities may be subject to their own conditions, as discussed in the firm’s [note on real estate and land title](/insights/real-estate-and-land-title-in-guyana).

Section 24 provides that, subject to liability for the payment of all applicable taxes due, investors may freely and without hindrance repatriate dividends, earnings and capital; remit the proceeds of a sale or liquidation; pay interest on international loans; pay for imports; pay fees for trademarks, royalties, and management and other fees; and pay licensing fees for franchising agreements, to their home countries or to other countries, through a corporate body licensed to carry on banking business in Guyana under the “Banking Act” — that is the wording of the 2004 Act, and should be read with the legislation under which banking business is now licensed, principally the Financial Institutions Act. Section 25 provides that, notwithstanding those guarantees, the Government may prevent a transfer of funds through the equitable, non-discriminatory and good-faith application of Acts in specified circumstances, including bankruptcy or insolvency, or for the protection of stockholders or creditors; where criminal proceedings against the investor or the investment enterprise are pending; and to ensure compliance with orders or judgments of courts or tribunals. The precise wording of section 25 should be read in the Act. Foreign personnel and their families may, by section 26, also repatriate their earnings after payment of the taxes due, except where a section 25 condition exists.

Section 28 requires the parties first to seek to settle a dispute through consultation, in order to reach an amicable settlement. If they fail to resolve the matter, they may submit it to arbitration under the Arbitration Act (the 2004 Act cites the then Arbitration Act, Cap. 7:03; the current statute is the Arbitration Act 2024, which came into operation on 5 July 2024, as described in the firm’s [note on dispute resolution](/insights/dispute-resolution-in-guyana)); invoke the jurisdiction of the competent courts in Guyana; adopt a procedure provided for in the articles of association or other constituent document of the investment enterprise; or submit the dispute to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), “of which Guyana is a member.”

Fiscal incentives: In Aid of Industry, export allowances and recent changes

The principal statute for industrial tax incentives is the Income Tax (In Aid of Industry) Act (Cap. 81:02, Act No. 16 of 1951), in the official Laws of Guyana as authorised by L.R.O. 1/2022. That revision incorporates amendments through Act No. 9 of 2019 and Order No. 77 of 2020. The Act is to be read as one with the Income Tax Act (Cap. 81:01). This review has not identified a later amending Act to Cap. 81:02 itself.

Section 2 provides that the Minister may grant an exemption from corporation tax on income from new economic activity of a developmental and risk-bearing nature. The activity must qualify either because it demonstrably creates new employment in Regions 1, 7, 8, 9 or 10 (or in other Regions specified by the Minister by order, subject to negative resolution), or because it demonstrably creates new employment in specified fields. Those fields, as they stand in the official text, include agricultural development and agro-processing (including aquaculture and bio-fuels); information and communication technology, not including retail and distribution; petroleum exploration, extraction and refining; mineral exploration, extraction and refining; tourist facilities; value-added wood processing; textile production; bio-technology; development and manufacturing of new pharmaceutical products, chemical compounds and the processing of raw materials to produce injectables; infrastructural development, including the production of electricity using renewable sources of energy; cold storage and packaging; and such other fields as the Minister may by order specify. By section 2(1A), an exemption shall be for a period not exceeding five years, except that for activity specified in subsection (1)(b) the Minister may grant an exemption for a period up to ten years; and for infrastructural development under paragraph (1)(b)(x), including renewable electricity, the Minister may grant an exemption for a period longer than ten years. Wear-and-tear allowances are not made during the holiday period, and losses incurred during it may be set off afterwards without the limitations in section 19 of the Income Tax Act, as more fully provided in section 2(2).

Section 2A, inserted by Act No. 6 of 2017, allows the Minister to grant an exemption from corporation tax, for a period not exceeding two years, on income from the provision of wind and solar energy, of water treatment and water recycling facilities, and of waste disposal and recycling facilities for plastic items. Section 2A(3), added by Act No. 9 of 2019, provides for a tax credit equalling 75 per cent of income and corporation taxes on profits on the provision of tourism activities in Regions 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Initial and annual allowances are in Parts II and III. For industrial buildings and structures, section 3 allows an initial allowance equal to one-tenth of the capital expenditure on construction (and, by section 3(1A), initial allowances are also allowed on hotel buildings in Regions 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10). Section 4 allows an annual allowance equal to one-twentieth of that expenditure. For machinery or plant, section 16 allows an initial allowance equal to two-fifths of the capital expenditure. Parts II to VIII apply, by section 1(2) and the First Schedule, to specified trades. Item 3 of that Schedule includes the working of any mine “other than a mine operated by a gold or diamond mining company,” or other mineral deposits “other than petroleum,” and the manufacture, refining and processing of oil and other minerals and their derivatives. The First Schedule therefore qualifies the trades to which the allowance Parts apply; the tax-holiday fields in section 2(1)(b) separately include petroleum and mineral exploration, extraction and refining. The detailed conditions, balancing charges and anti-double-allowance rules should be read in the Act.

Export allowances, by contrast, sit in the Income Tax Act (Cap. 81:01). They are the subject of section 33C and of the Fifth Schedule. The current rates, the qualifying percentage of export sales, and the products that do and do not qualify, should be read in that Schedule as it now stands. A change that has been officially notified is this: from 1 January 2026, according to a Guyana Revenue Authority notice of 16 March 2026 (“Legislative Changes: Property Tax, Corporation Tax, VAT, Income Tax”), Part III of the Fifth Schedule, which lists products that do not qualify for export allowances, was amended by the removal of timber. Consequently, the export of timber by companies can now qualify for the export allowance, which may be claimed in ascertaining chargeable income.

The same GRA notice records other changes that may be relevant to an investment analysis, though they are not general industrial incentives. From 1 January 2026, in accordance with section 7 of the Corporation Tax Act (Cap. 81:03), income arising from agriculture and agro-processing, and income arising from child-care and elderly-care services, of incorporated companies (not individuals) is exempt from corporation tax. From 16 February 2026, Schedules 1 and 2 of the Value-Added Tax Act (Cap. 81:05) were amended: specified supplies, including locally produced furniture and jewellery, all-terrain vehicles, fire extinguishers and smoke alarms, and security equipment including cameras and alarm systems, are zero-rated; and specified supplies, including certain double-cab pickups, new vehicles, hybrid vehicles and outboard engines, within the capacity limits stated in the notice, are exempt. From 1 January 2025, pursuant to section 6(y) of the Property Tax Act (Cap. 81:21), an individual is not liable to pay property tax. The notice, and the amending Acts, should be read for the precise conditions. Energy-sector fiscal terms, including withholding tax under section 10B of the Income Tax Act, are discussed in the firm’s [note on energy-sector taxation](/insights/energy-sector-taxation-in-guyana).

The Small Business Act (Cap. 89:06, Act No. 2 of 2004, as amended by Act No. 4 of 2021), in force from 1 April 2005, provides for an incentive regime and support programme for small business. As amended in 2021, a “small business” is, in summary, a person or body carrying on business in Guyana for gain or profit (not a charitable or political principal object) that is appropriately incorporated, registered, a partnership, a co-operative, or owned by persons trading otherwise, is not a subsidiary or affiliate, and satisfies all of the following: it employs not more than twenty-five persons; it has gross annual revenues of not more than sixty million dollars; and it has total business assets of not more than twenty million dollars. The Minister may, after consultation with the Small Business Council, alter those criteria by order subject to affirmative resolution. Section 11 requires the Government to use its best endeavours to ensure that at least twenty per cent of its annual procurement of goods, services and works is obtained from small businesses, at competitive prices and in accordance with the Procurement Act. Section 12 provides that a small business shall be eligible for every applicable fiscal incentive under the law. The Act itself does not set a separate schedule of tax rates. Consequential amendments which the Act made to the Income Tax Act, the Income Tax (In Aid of Industry) Act and the Customs Act appear in those statutes (they are marked “Omitted” in Cap. 89:06). The Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2019 also defines “small business” by reference to section 2 of the Small Business Act.

The standard rate of value-added tax, under regulation 2 of the Value-Added Tax Regulations in the official text of the Value-Added Tax Act (Cap. 81:05, L.R.O. 1/2022), is fourteen per cent of the tax imposed under section 9(1) of that Act (as substituted by Regulations No. 8 of 2016). This review has not identified a later amendment of that standard rate. The 2026 GRA changes described above alter zero-rating and exemption schedules, not the fourteen per cent rate.

Go-Invest, investment agreements and international instruments

Section 39 of the Investment Act provides that the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest), established under the Public Corporations Act 1988, shall be the corporation responsible for facilitating and promoting investment in Guyana, and shall provide investors with all forms necessary to apply for incentives and assist them in completing those forms accurately. Go-Invest is a facilitator and a liaison; the Act does not make it the authority that grants fiscal relief. An Investment Promotion Council is established by section 40.

The GRA’s published procedure for exemptions under investment agreements is as follows. Go-Invest prepares three copies of the investment agreement, including a list of the items required, and submits them to the GRA. The GRA reviews the draft and, if satisfied that the items qualify, prepares a letter of recommendation to the Minister of Finance; if not satisfied, a meeting and a site visit may be required. The GRA then forwards the recommendation and the three copies to the Minister. If the Minister is satisfied, the Minister signs and returns the agreements. The GRA sends an acknowledgement and a copy to the applicant, confirms approval to Go-Invest, and retains a copy. The applicant must then apply to the GRA, case by case, for the items on the approved list; the GRA issues a CG letter if the request is in order. Those are the GRA’s published administrative steps, and should be checked in their current form. The legal entitlement to any exemption is that of the fiscal statute and of the signed agreement, not of the administrative circular alone.

Internationally, Guyana is a Contracting State of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States. According to ICSID document ICSID/3, as of 16 August 2026, Guyana signed the Convention on 3 July 1969, deposited its instrument of ratification on 11 July 1969, and the Convention entered into force for Guyana on 10 August 1969. That status is consistent with section 28 of the Investment Act. Guyana has also concluded bilateral investment treaties with a number of States. The current list, and whether a particular treaty is in force, should be confirmed from official treaty records and from UNCTAD’s International Investment Agreements Navigator, and the text of any treaty relied on should be read. This note does not treat a signed treaty as being in force unless that status is so confirmed, and it does not restate individual treaty terms.