If you are working in Guyana's oil and gas sector, the figures that circulate about income tax are mostly wrong, and wrong in the direction that makes the tax look smaller than it is. The Guyana Revenue Authority publishes the rates, and they are 28 per cent and 40 per cent — not 20 and 30.
The rates, from the Revenue Authority
The GRA sets out the calculation in two steps. First a deduction, then the rates on what is left:
- The deduction, or "free pay": GYD 780,000 (about USD 3,729) or one-third of the individual's income earned on an annual basis, allowed as a deduction to determine the chargeable income.
- 28 per cent on chargeable income less than GYD 1,560,000 (about USD 7,457) earned annually.
- 40 per cent on chargeable income in excess of GYD 1,560,000 annually.
- National Insurance contributions by employees are allowed as a deduction in determining the chargeable income.
The statutory references the GRA gives are section 20 of the Income Tax Act, Cap. 81:01 for the statutory deduction, sections 36 and 36A for the rates, and section 16(1)(k) for the NIS deduction. If you want to check any of this against the Act rather than a guide, those are the places.
One date to hold on to. The GRA page frames these figures with reference to the assessment of Income Tax for the year 2020. They are what the Authority publishes, read on 24 October 2026, but that wording is the Authority's own and you should confirm the current year's position before planning around it.
What this does to a real salary
The two-step structure matters more than either rate. Because the deduction is the greater effect at lower incomes and a fixed-ish floor at higher ones, the marginal rate you feel is not the headline rate. Work out your chargeable income first — income, less the free pay, less your NIS contributions — and only then apply the band. Applying 28 per cent to a gross salary overstates the tax; applying 20 per cent to anything, as some guides do, understates it badly.
And the part nobody writes down: the GRA's published page does not address non-residents. For a sector that runs on rotational and secondment contracts, that is the question most likely to decide your bill, and it is not answered there. Ask the GRA directly, in writing, whether you are assessed as resident, and from which date. Do not let a recruiter answer it for you.
National Insurance: the ceilings are published, the percentages are not
The National Insurance Scheme publishes its ceilings and pension figures:
- Insurable earnings ceiling: raised to GYD 280,000 per month (about USD 1,338) and GYD 64,615 per week (about USD 309).
- Minimum pension: raised to GYD 21,537 per month (about USD 103).
- Pensions above the minimum increased by 2 per cent, stated as effective 1 January 2025.
Note the ceiling matters to a high earner: contributions stop accruing above it, so NIS is not proportional all the way up. We are not giving you contribution percentages. Figures such as "5.6 per cent employee and 11.2 per cent employer" circulate widely; they are not on the pages we could read, so they are not here. The Scheme's own Contributions section is where to get them, and your employer's payroll will state what it withheld.
One caution about that source: the page carries a heading about adjustments for 2025 above a line reading Effective 1st January, 2020, the below rates have been adjusted. The dating is internally confusing, which is another reason to confirm the current figures rather than quote ours.
What housing actually costs, from listings
Guides quote a two-bedroom in central Georgetown at around GYD 150,000 a month. Published listings do not support that. Advertised asking rents from Century 21 Guyana, measured on 11 October 2026 from 20 listings in each tier, give medians of:
- Basic tier: USD 1,500 per month
- Comfortable tier: USD 2,000
- Expatriate tier: USD 2,500
Read these as asking prices from one agency's listings, weighted towards the expatriate end, on a small sample — not as a market average. But the order of magnitude is the point: if your package was budgeted on a figure near USD 700, it was budgeted on something nobody published.
What expats should know
- 28 and 40 per cent are the rates, at a band of GYD 1,560,000 — not 20 and 30.
- The free pay is GYD 780,000 or one-third of income, and it comes off before the rates apply.
- Your NIS contributions are deductible under section 16(1)(k).
- Get your residence status in writing from the GRA. Its published page does not cover non-residents.
- NIS contributions stop at the earnings ceiling of GYD 280,000 a month.
- Treat any quoted contribution percentage as unsourced until your payroll or the Scheme confirms it.
- Budget housing from listings, not from a guide. The published medians start around USD 1,500.
- Confirm the current year's figures. The Authority's own page refers to the 2020 assessment.
Where to check
The rates, the free pay and the statutory references are from the Guyana Revenue Authority's income tax pages. The ceilings and pension figures are from the National Insurance Scheme. Both read on 24 October 2026. The rent medians are aggregated Century 21 Guyana listings held in our own reference data, with the measurement date and sample size given above. Converted at 1 USD = 209.22 GYD, the Bank of Guyana rate for 7 October 2026.
AI-Generated Content: This article was created with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important information with official sources.
