*5$ SUoMHcWHG Wo collHcW % IoU

The prudent management systems of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) have placed the agency in a position to comfortably collect . % more than it did last year.

This was revealed by )inance Minister, :inston Jordan during his budget

speech.

The )inance Minister said that GRA is proMected to remit billion for , up from . billion in . Jordan explained that this is on account of increased remissions to companies and business, by . billion or

. percent ministries and government departments, by

. billion or . percent and foreign-funded proMects, by . billion or . percent.

)urthermore, in anticipation of the economic developments expected in the next few years, Jordan said that Guyana’s capacity for effective tax administration must be brought up to par. He said that such a move is necessary if Guyana is to continue to be fiscally responsible. :ith the aim of strategically bolstering the capacity of the GRA, Jordan said that a fiveyear strategic plan will be developed, in , which will prioriti]e actions to be taken by the Authority to maximi]e Government revenue and improve the overall administration of taxes.

,n , the )inance Minister said that Government reTuested a Tax Administration 'iagnostic Assessment Tool to assess the effectiveness of the tax administration system. He said that the findings of the report indicate that there is much work to be done.

Jordan said that one recommendation from this report has led to the establishment of a /arge Taxpayers Unit, in light of the fact that the maMority of revenues are collected from a small group of taxpayers. The operationali]ation of the Unit is expected to improve service delivery, thereby increasing compliance and revenue collection. ,t is anticipated that, in , the Unit will improve its operational capacity to service all large taxpayers on its roll.

Jordan said that the Government is not only working to improve the service delivery to large taxpayers, but, also, to all others. Jordan said that in , the GRA established an outpost in Morawhanna, which reduced revenue leakage that was due to fuel smuggling.

The )inance Minister said that another initiative, which Government anticipates will result in improved tax compliance, is the implementation of a stamp system for the sale of alcohol and tobacco. Through the use of seals to signal customs compliance, Jordan said that this measure will help, also, to reduce the incidence of smuggling of these particular goods.

The )inance Minister said that efforts will continue to focus on improving the internal capacities of the GRA to better serve the taxpayer. He said that the GRA e-services are currently being tested for tax returns processing, and taxpayer registration.

Jordan said: “:e anticipate that these e-services will be launched in time for at least the average taxpayer to file his or her tax return online by April th, . ,n addition, in the New <ear, we will begin testing the Automated 6ystem for Customs 'ata (A6<CU'A), an integrated customs management system.´

(Kaieteur News)