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GRA to train more oil auditors – Statia
Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Godfrey Statia
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) will be training more auditors for its Petroleum Unit, established to conduct audits of oil companies operating locally.
Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia in an invited comment explained that the tax body will not be imposing conditions that mandate the trained individuals to serve following the training.
The head of the tax agency had previously raised concerns, during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), that the trained personnel were being stolen by the oil and gas companies.
To address this issue, it was suggested that specific requirements be outlined in the contractual arrangements to ensure the trained personnel serve for a period before leaving the public sector.
Statia, however, outlined that the GRA will not be forcing the trainees to remain on the job. He explained, “As I intimated before, Guyanese should be patriotic and serve their country. Persons held against their will, will not perform at their optimal.”
To this end, he clarified, “The intention is to train many persons in the discipline, and pay them well, so, even if we lose 50 percent to the private sector, and they remain in Guyana it will be worth it.”
The GRA, in an advertisement this week, said the unprecedented growth of the Petroleum Sector and the resultant expansion of the Oil and Gas Tax roll places added responsibility on the Revenue Authority to ensure that the demands of the Oil and Gas Sector and its taxpayers are adequately met.
It said to optimize revenue generation from this sector and improve taxpayer compliance; it is important for the Authority to efficaciously administer taxes, conduct risk-based audits, educate taxpayers and institute other risk-based compliance measures.
Therefore, the Authority is in the process of identifying and developing a cadre of professionals to execute these functions. “This venture seeks to co-opt talented individuals into a pool, which will be trained through partnerships with Universities, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and GRA’s Technical Staff. To this end, applications are invited from persons who are desirous of joining the GRA’s Cost Recovery and Petroleum Revenue Departments,” the GRA explained.
Notably, a Competency Assessment will be administered, with successful applicants being identified for placement within the Petroleum Cost Recovery Department or the Petroleum Revenue Department.
Interested persons must have completed or be actively pursuing the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), the CPA, COPAS, Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy or any other accounting/auditing qualification with a minimum of two (2) years’ experience in accounting/auditing.
The GRA noted that persons who possess qualifications in the Oil and Gas field will also be considered.
Last year when the Commissioner General revealed that the agency was losing its trained personnel he said that the gap is likely to be filled in a few years’ time. At that time, the department had 31 on roll but 65 persons were required for the job.
In the meantime, the Commissioner General said GRA has been conducting “selective audits” with the tax body concentrating its efforts on clawing back the largest return. In addition to that, he said, “We have to use external accountants to do the cost recovery audit and we work along with them and we utilize their analysis and their findings to guide us in our examination and review of the accounts that would have been submitted by the oil and gas players.”
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