IMF questions integrity of data at GRA Cites weak IT system, document tampering as reasons
The integrity of data and its availability are two major issues plaguing the efficiency of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). This was noted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its 2018 report on Guyana’s economic health.
According to the Fund, these two problems directly affect compliance management and credible reporting. The Fund has noted on several occasions that the reliability of data at GRA is often compromised by its weak IT system, as well as officials who may tamper with its paper system.
In its 2018 report, the IMF highlighted that weak filing and payment compliance are pervasive. It said that there is no efiling facility at GRA, which impacts the cost of compliance and increases the burden for taxpayers to meet their filing obligations. Furthermore, the Fund said that disjointed case selection and management of audits compromise audit outcomes.
Overall, the financial institution said that the operational framework of GRA has been weakened by the absence of a strategic planning management system. It stressed that the lack of a strategic plan and structured risk management approaches, have led to uncoordinated programmes related to day-today operations and reform initiatives.
To overcome the aforementioned, the Fund said that GRA must undertake a suite of reforms. It said that this is necessary to modernize the way GRA conducts tax administration.
The IMF said that GRA must develop a three to fiveyear strategic plan as a roadmap to guide operational delivery. It said that GRA must establish a dedicated reform unit to coordinate the implementation of reforms, and improve management control through performance targets. It also called for the authority to improve information technology systems, particularly in the use of third party data, business process simplification, and data analytics, to build an evidencedriven compliance strategy.
Further to this, the Fund said that GRA needs to address inadequacies in the integrity of the taxpayer register and accounts, institutionalize a compliance risk management programme to enable risk profiling and assessment, reorganize its structure to place all core specialized functional areas of Customs under the full purview of the Head of Customs and reorganize field offices along segmentation principles.
The Fund also called for GRA to be established as the single revenue collection agency for the petroleum sector, and that it creates a specialized petroleum revenue team within the Large Taxpayers Unit. While the revenue authority has a number of areas to improve on, the Fund did note that there are some areas of good practice in tax administration. In this regard, the Fund said that its recent Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool identified strong performance in several areas. It said that GRA’s includes a highly qualified cadre of staff, extensive information available to taxpayers through a variety of channels, withholding and advance payment mechanism in place, independent graduated dispute resolution mechanism and strong external oversight mechanisms.
The International Monetary Fund also stated that fiscal structural reforms such as those required by GRA are important as Guyana prepares to become an oil producer.
(Kaieteur News)