Minimum of five years needed to get GRA at 90% level of efficiency

Oct 02, 2017 News

– Entity now operating at 35 percent

By: Kiana Wilburg

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has some of the nation’s most qualified citizens. But even with a labour force that exceeds 1000 recruits and employment costs over $2B, this entity has been operating at an efficiency level that is less than six percent for years. It was only recently that the tax authority was able to jump to 35 percent.
Even though this is a small accomplishment, it is nothing that the GRA Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia is impressed with. He told Kaieteur News that there are a number of issues preventing the agency from operating at the optimal level. As such, it will take quite some time before the tax authority can realise its true potential.
When he took over the post, some 14 months ago, Statia said he was eager to set the entity on the right track. He was keeping abreast with the daily news and had a fair idea of the areas that needed the most work, or so he thought. Upon becoming Commissioner General, Statia got a rude awakening.
“The entire infrastructure was in disrepair. The floors including the Commissioner General’s office, flooded when it rained. There was paper everywhere. The IT system called TRIPS kept tripping. The taxpaying public had to sit in tents and be subjected to the elements of the weather, with no AC or fans. The working conditions at branch offices and wharves were even worse. All of this led to low staff morale, an absentee ratio exceeding 35 percent, staff being treated for mold and other associated illnesses, bribery, collusion and corrupt practices, and of course inefficient tax collection.”
The Commissioner General asserted that the Authority had among its cadres, more graduates than a similar private sector size company, yet was working below its capacity.
“When an OTA (Office of Technical Assistance of the United States Department of the Treasury) team visited in August 2016, they reported that GRA as a tax agency was operating at a five percent level of efficiency. Suffice to say that one year later, the same team has reported that the efficiency level has since risen to 35 percent. They have however advised that it will take a minimum of five years to get the system to the 90 percent desirable level of efficiency.”
Statia said that this time period may mean that he might not see that “promised land,” since as said on many occasions, should he be incapable of meeting the goals and objectives that he was employed and set out to do, he will be the first to say “goodbye.”
To achieve this future level of efficiency, Statia asserted that it would necessitate a partnership of all stakeholders of which the private sector should and continue to play an integral part.

TAX REFORM COMMISSION FINDINGS
The Tax Reform Commission, which was established by the Granger administration, had also found several reasons which prevented the tax authority from operating at an optimal level.
In its 2016 report to the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, the Tax Reform Committee of which the GRA Commissioner General was a member, reflected that the main weaknesses in the Guyana tax system include an excessive amount of exemptions, significant evasion and avoidance, low administrative capacity, a relatively narrow tax base, high effective tax rates in certain sectors, and a failure to achieve the desired amount of equity.

GRA Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia

It goes on further to say that, “The high incidence of evasion relates to those companies and individuals who use various devices to evade the several taxes imposed on them by law. There is also a very large underground economy, made up of both unincorporated firms, employing various evasion and avoidance practices, and self-employed persons of various skills and occupations. In addition, smuggling is rampant because of the thousands of miles of unpatrolled borders.”
The Tax Reform Commission also reported that the failure to capture more operatives into the tax net is partly related to the relatively low capacity of the Guyana Revenue Authority in terms of trained and skilled personnel, the absence of or failure to use information technology to capture common and relevant information regarding taxpayers and a common and adequate data base; and a level of professionalism that is not sufficiently high to resist various forms of bribery.
In addition, in the past administration, the Commission noted that there has been such political intervention/ interference at GRA that it prevented the officers from conducting their duties in a fair and non-partisan manner.

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One thought on “Minimum of five years needed to get GRA at 90% level of efficiency”

shovid October 2, 2017 at 10:23 pm

Gotta a BRIDGE to sell you godfrey!!..BTW, dem whiteboys gatt yuh head inna TIZZY!!

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