The paper is divided into six parts: Presentation Objective

Establishment of The GRA, Vision, Mission Statement & Core Values;

Functions & Mandate of GRA;

Revenue Administration & the Roles of Revenue Departments

Overview & Roles of Support Departments

Legal, Policy & Administrative Reforms

Conclusions

To provide a general overview of The Gambia Revenue Authority (Historical development);

Share some important learning points, issues and information pertaining to the Authority’s legal, policy and administrative reforms all geared to enhance sustainable growth and national development;

Invites thought-provoking (critical) questions and comments from the participants in a practicably & interactive manner;

Participants to go home with interesting and positive insights of GRA’s resolved position as a genuine partner in development.

Gambia Revenue Authority was created by an Act of the National Assembly in 2004 as a semi-autonomous body corporate for the assessment and collection of revenue;

To provide for the efficient and effective

administration and enforcement of the laws relating to the revenue collecting system in The Gambia;

The functions of the Authority as provided under section 14 of

the GRA Act 2004 and as amended by No.10 of the GambiaRevenue Authority (Amendment) Act,2010 are to:

Assess, charge, levy and collect all revenue due to the Government;

Ensure that all revenues collected are, as soon as reasonably practicable, paid to the Consolidated Revenue Fund;

Administer and enforce the Gambia Revenue Authority Act and the revenue laws;

Promote full compliance with tax laws; Take such measures as may be required to improve the

standards of service provided to taxpayers with a view of improving efficiency and effectiveness in administration, and maximizing revenue collection;

Take such measures as may be required or considered necessary to prevent tax fraud and other tax evasion;

Advise the Minister of Finance (MOF) on matters relating to the administration and collection of revenue under The Gambia Revenue Authority Act and the revenue laws,

Perform such other functions, in relation to revenue, as the Minister of Finance may direct.

NOTE:

The Authority (GRA) is, under the general supervision of the Minister, responsible for the collection and receipt of all revenue and shall perform its function in the most cost –effective and efficient manner possible under the revenue policy, as set by the Minister.

“To be a highly efficient revenue administration that enhances

national growth and development” .

To promptly assess, collect and account for all revenues legally due to government in a fair and transparent manner;

Provide quality customer service and promote voluntary compliance;

To be an efficient and capable organization with an adequate number of well trained and motivated staff;

To promote and strengthen bilateral and other stakeholders’ interests;

To enhance revenue collection through the use of efficient and effective IT systems;

To simplify and standardise procedures and legislation

without increasing the compliance burden or hindering trade.

Integrity – Treating all our stakeholder fairly under the law and demonstrating a high sense of honesty and transparency;

Professionalism – Commitment to the highest standards of achievement obtainable through dedication and skill;

Fairness – Applying the revenue laws consistently, responsibly and reasonably in the discharge of our revenue collecting and enforcement functions.

Revenue administration is performed with the help of the following revenue and support departments:Office of the Commissioner General (Corporate &

Public Affairs Unit) ◦ Customs & Excise Department (CED)◦ Department of Domestic Taxes (DTD)◦ Technical Services Department TSD)◦ Finance & Accounting Department (FAD)◦ Management Services Department (MSD)◦ Directorate of Internal Audit

The revenue departments (CED & DTD) perform their revenue functions in accordance with two pieces of legislation i.e. the Customs and Excise ACT (2010) & The Income and Value Added Tax Act 2012, respectively. Both legislation have a regulation to complement the principal acts (CEA 2010 & the IVATA 2012).

Customs & Excise Department (CED)- Operations, Technical Services & EnforcementResponsible for: The collection of duties, excise, VAT iro imported goods Conduction of examination, verification, classification and

valuation of goods Border security controls ( land, sea-port and airport) to detect and

deter smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods and articles.

Domestic Taxes Department (DTD)- LTU, TOO & HQs Responsible for the registration, collection and enforcement of

domestic taxes iro PIT, CIT, CGT, Payroll, WHT, FBT, etc., and other non-tax revenues

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Key Functions: TSD - Provide legal and technical advice to GRA, other

government departments, taxpayers and other stakeholders (iro duty waiver applications, proposed amendments iro revenue laws to enhance revenue collection);

In addition to the above, the (TSD) propose and draft tax treaties on behalf of GRA and government institutions;

Coordinate, the agreed and signed international protocols & MOUs such as the ECOWAS’s ETLS & CET, Double Taxation Agreement (DTAs) with other countries (e.g. UK, Kenya, Venezuela, etc.).

Provision of policy planning and strategic direction for GRA through the collection, management, compilation of monthly revenue performance and activity reports, and data analysis on supplied data;

Coordination and focal point of all IMF Technical FAD Missions;

Direction of compliance strategy and taxpayer education programmes of GRA;

FAD- This department provide financial advice on budget and expenditures, processing of payments and conduction of reconciliation on GRA’s accounts in respect of revenue;

DIA - Conduct financial audits on GRA operations (e.g. Payroll, fixed assets and procurement. 100% risk-based audit of all GRA’s provincial station and border posts to minimise the incidence of institutional lapses (Road Tax, Licenses, GAMBIS);

MSD- Responsible for the effective and efficient implementation of Human Resource Management strategy (HRM), Information Technology & Management Information System (IT/MIS) direction and for the general administrative duties of the Authority

Creation of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) through the enactment of the GRA Act, that provides for the establishment of GRA as a semi-autonomous body corporate with Act No.13 2004 of the National Assembly;

Enactment of the Income and Sales Tax Act, 2004 and its amendments;

Introduction of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) legislation and regulation 2007;

Development/enactment of the Income Tax (Rates for the informal Sector) Regulations, 2007;

Minimum tax reduced from 3% & 2% to 2.5% (unaudited) & 1.5% (audited accounts) following the 2010 Amendment of the Income and Sales Tax Act;

Enactment of the Customs and Excise Act, 2010, in line with international best practice (legal);

The development and completion of the Customs & Excise Regulation 2013, designed for the effective operationalisation of its principal act, awaiting the Minister’s signature (legal);

The Customs & Excise Act, 2010 under s161 (2) and the IVATA 2012 s156 provides tax incentives for taxpayers. The Third schedule of the Customs & Excise Act 2010 makes exemptions of goods imported or purchased by individuals entitled to tax incentives. This is in line with section 63 (c) of the GIEPA Act. The rationale is to harmonise the tax incentives provided in the two legislations (legal);

Migration from ASYCUDA 2.7 to ASYCUDA ++ for greater data processing speed, security and effective generation of traders inputs (policy);

Setting up and inauguration of the Tax and Customs Tribunal October 2012, to serve as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism on taxable decision make by the CG. The existence of the Tribunal will make taxpayers to have confidence in the administration of revenue in The Gambia (legal);

Payment of taxes and customs duties through commercial Banks (policy);

Enactment of the Income & Value Added Tax Act, 2012, bringing into context the legal imposition and basis of VAT, hence replacing the Sales Tax legislation (legal);

Enhanced GAMTAXNET software system, to accommodate VAT and broaden its usage across all taxes, particularly in the areas of file management, data generation and analysis (policy);

Personal Income Tax (PIT) rates reduced by 5% (maximum now 30%) and threshold raised from GMD 7,500 to 18,000 2013(legal);

Restructuring and transformation of the former Jerquing Section to a more robust and functional Unit called Post Clearance Audit (PCA) (administrative);

Establishment of the Direct Trader’s Input (DTI) centre for better and enhanced trade facilitation and quality service provisions to our general clientele (administrative);

Completion of the stabilisation, quality assurance rollout of the ASYCUDA ++ to the border posts;

Reduction of CIT rates from 35% to 33% in 2011 and 32 % in 2012 (administrative);

FBT reduced to 32% in line with the CIT rate;

Introduction of the simplified presumptive tax regime for SMEs with turnover below D0.5 million annually – now a straight 3% tax on quarterly turnover, with no deductions or annual filing (administrative);

In agreeable terms and supporting the GIEPA’s devised Income Tax Deposit waiver for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs);

Conduction of rigorous taxpayer education programmes geared to raise taxpayers awareness on GRA’s processes, procedures and laws.

Establishment of Compliance Improvement and Risk Management Committees to improve compliance on our systems, procedures and procedures, hence to also keep track on all risk associated with ‘doing business”;

Establishment of the Duty Waiver Committee (DWC) to monitor all duty waiver applications send to the Authority (GRA) through the Ministry of Finance. The committee is further mandated to make recommendation and advice on remissions and exemptions in accordance with the provisions of the Customs & Excise Act, 2010;

DT HQ unit established, for the strategic, technical support and monitoring of DTDs policy matters, data compilation, compliance monitoring, appeals handling and systems administration within DTD, hence ensuring quality assurance and application of procedures and processes (administrative);

The GRA continues to support private sector led development initiatives, through its anchored tax policy measures, all geared to enhance the sustainability of government’s resolved and continual fiscal incentives as a necessary tool for accelerating socio-economic growth and development.