A review of the Guyana Revenue Authority’s strategic plan is being conducted to clearly identify factors which are causing the underreporting of taxation so that measures to improve collection can be implemented, according to GRA Board Chairman Rawle Lucas.
This strategic plan, which will cater for five years, is expected to be completed in two months, Lucas told Stabroek News in an interview.
This plan is being crafted by staff at GRA who had previously drafted a plan for the period for 2014 to 2016. The board, however, is hoping to invest resources with more of a long term strategy in mind.
While mostly satisfied with the information provided by the senior managers and comfortable with some of the progress made with respect to revenue collection, Lucas said the board is looking at ways to improve decision-making about rates and types of revenue collection. “It could be based on better decision making models, better forecasting models,” he said.
Increasing the rate of revenue collection, Lucas noted, depends largely on voluntary compliance of taxpayers, including both individuals and businesses.
“Thus, good customer service is necessary. People must be satisfied that they can come into the Authority and feel as if they are being helped,” he said.
Recognising that there is a relationship between economic effectives of an economy and taxation, Lucas said that the board will be looking at ways in which revenue collection does not interfere with the efficiency with which businesses will operate.
When questioned about the impact public revelations of tax transaction may have had on customer confidence, Lucas noted that “every employee of GRA signs a confidentiality agreement and thus should not be disclosing personal tax information of any taxpayer, unless that taxpayer provides the authority to do so.”
At the board’s first meeting, Lucas said he had shared his expectations of how the Authority will function. “I made it clear in my opening remarks what I expect. Included in that [are guidelines about] the disclosure of information. I do not want us to be undermining the laws of Guyana nor seeking to make our taxpayers lose confidence in our institution,” he said.
