“I collected GRA in a run-down state” – GRA Boss -assures data integrity issues being addressed

Sep 15, 2018 News

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By Kiana Wilburg
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently noted that two of the biggest issues facing the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) are the integrity of its data as well as its availability.
GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia recently said that while this may be the case, it is linked to the poor IT systems of the entity.
In an interview with Kaieteur News, Statia said, “I don’t deny that we are facing those issues. We never thought of or tried to hide that fact from the IMF. I know it is a major issue but you have to understand that I collected GRA in a run-down state. Data integrity is an issue that exists strictly because of the Total Revenue Integrated Processing System (TRIPS) system.”
The tax chief added, “All the modules for that system were never implemented. But that is being fixed now. We are moving to ASYCUDA. You need to understand that cleaning up this process is not going to happen overnight…”
FOR TEN YEARS
Statia noted that for10 years, management at GRA failed to implement critical parts of TRIPS. He explained that TRIPS was intended to merge all departments by having a common database where all tax records could be scanned or entered into the system and found when needed. It was introduced with the aim of boosting efficiency in the assessment, collection and accounting for revenue.
TRIPS comprises of two core applications: Taxes and Customs, which share information with each other and each application encompasses a total of 13 modules.
The CUSTOMES MODULES include; Lodgment; Data Entry; Goods Inspection/Enforcement, Valuation and Document Check, Risk Profiling, Cashiering, Release, Remissions, and Warehouse.
The TAX Modules include; Taxpayer Identification, Tax, Accounting, Audit, Reports/Notices/Certificates.
Statia noted however that since all of the modules were not implemented, the “TRIPS system was just tripping.”
The GRA Commissioner General said that the Authority has been trying to implement TRIPS completely since 2007. He said disappointingly, that the entity spent over US$4M on the IT system and it is still not up to date.
Furthermore, the TAX chief said that the failure to implement all of the modules affected the entity to a large extent.
He explained, “In the olden days, it used to be a manual system and it worked up to a particular point. So you know for sure that if TRIPS is in place, the IT system would help you to do a lot of these things. If you have the right IT software, half of your work is completed. You would be able to do proper audits and these things at the touch of a button you would be able to recognize what is wrong and what is right; whether a taxpayer has complied…”
The Tax Chief continued, “Unfortunately, you can’t do that with the present system and that has gone on for the last 10 years. That was probably one of the reasons why the GRA has been in such decay. It was in a state of decay.”
Statia added, “What I did now is instead of them using an entire TRIPS system, I said, ‘No. concentrate on the internal revenue modules.’ And we are going to go to the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA). That is what we are doing.”
The GRA Commissioner General said that the ASYCUDA system will cost just about US$2.5M.
As for TRIPS, he sought to stress that “We must get something out of what we have paid for so while we are moving to ASYCUDA for customs and we will keep (aspects of) TRIPS… In that way we would be able to turn up certain things faster. For instance we expect that people must be able to E-file their tax returns for 2018…”
Statia added, “If TRIPS used to work you could have been doing all your applications online. So you could have applied for your compliance online… but in the absence of that, we will be exploring other things in its place.”
Additionally, Statia had updated the media on the ASYCUDA system stating that Cabinet has already given the approval for the funds. The new programme is slated for implementation in a month or two.
“So with that new system you will reduce collusion and under-invoicing and you would get a smooth system,” the Commissioner General said.
OVERCOMING
WEAKNESSES
To overcome its inherent weaknesses, the International Monetary Fund recently stated 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 five-year 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 evidence-driven 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 program 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.
GOOD PRACTICES
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 include 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.

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