By: Nyima Sillah
The Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), Yankuba Darboe, has re-emphasized that taxes are the lifeblood of the government, stating that taxation has come to stay in both developing and developed nations.
The GRA boss asserted that countries that are considered rich have more vigorous methods of taxation than the developing world.
“So, taxes are the lifeblood of a government. Our main source of revenue, as a government, is taxation and that is why, we jealously guard our taxes and make sure that we bring in methods that will safeguard our processes of collecting taxes so that it can become efficient in terms of collection,” he emphasized.
He explained that usually before the end of every year, the Ministry of Finance, IMF, and GRA meet to discuss how much revenue they should collect from the economy, citing that GRA does their independent revenue forecasting, the Ministry of Finance does its independent revenue for IMF, and their development partner will do theirs.
“From there, we will all meet and then see how much revenue GRA should collect for the following year, and once they agree, that becomes the revenue target for that year, adding that their collection depends on what is the target for GRA in that particular year. We were given a target of 19. 2 billion in 2024 but in the end, we were able to collect about 21 billion. Technicality, we have surpassed the target that we have, but that was the target we calculated and that this is the amount that we could get from the economy, and these figures are figures that are scientifically calculated and the calculation was done collectively,” he emphasized
Digital Tax Collection
CG stated that through the digitalization of the taxation process, they were able to close a lot of leakages that used to happen when things were done manually, and as a result, that’s what paid dividends until they were able to get their target for the year, or even surpass it. “The number of reforms that we brought in helped us to be able to cut off leakages that are happening. We can get the tax that we need from the economy.”
He cited that GRA does not work alone as they work with the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Finance has a department called Tax Policy and Revenue that department works with them. “The policy arm of the institution is the Ministry of Finance. Sometimes when we get to a certain level in doing things, there’s nothing we can do. We have to rely on the Ministry of Finance because they have to help us with the issues that are dealt with when it’s operations. So we are not all by ourselves when we are doing our work. We also work with sister agencies.
Illicit Financial Flows
The Head of GRA pointed out the issue of Illicit Financial Flows IFF’s, are a collective responsibility not the responsibility of only GRA, adding that they have other government agencies that they work with to ensure that illegal things don’t happen in the country.
“With the help of those agencies, then we can address the issue of illicit finance because most of these things emanate either through the banks or through businesses. We are not in a position to block all that, but we work with the banks, an agency responsible for money laundering (FIU), and the central bank. All these people will help us in case a situation like that arises, we discuss, we meet, we change letters, and then we always block things that we feel like they are threats,” CG emphasized.
Challenges
Commenting on the challenges, CG pointed out that one of the challenges faced by GRA is compliance, asserting that GRA has two operational departments, Customs and Excise that are for international trade, and then they have domestic taxes, for domestic taxes we got from here, but in either of these cases, is self-assessment.
“If you bring your container today, you have goods there. It is not GRA that should charge you. You charge yourself because you know how much you buy your container. So, all we expect from you is a genuine invoice, and then you do your declaration. That’s self-assessment. If you are a business operating locally in the country, and you are supposed to file your taxes quarterly, it is not GRA that should tell you to pay, instead your payment depends on the volume of your business likewise the rental income.”
He pointed out that the law says that if one rents a property and its commercial basis, the gross amount, takes 15% of and pays back to GRA as a rental income tax, and if it is domestic, one pays 8% of the gross amount to GRA But in most cases, people don’t come forward.
“We expect people to come forward and do their taxes as it is based on law. It is the law that states that if you are supposed to pay, you have to pay. Another challenge we encounter is energy supply, it frequently goes on and off which is always a problem for us. We always have to be on the generator, and you cannot be on the generator for 24 hours.
He asserted that digitalization goes with energy as now most of their systems are digitized, and if there is no electricity, it obstructs the entire operation.
Conclusion
“It is everybody’s business to make sure that they pay their taxes. We all live in this country happily, because it’s peaceful, and it’s the government that maintains peace and stability, including taking care of the police and the soldiers. So, if we want to have maintained that, we have to pay our taxes so that we can pay those staff as well as infrastructure development,” he said.
He cited that everyone wants development in their surroundings and for the government to do that, it is the responsibility of the citizens, particularly those who are doing economic activity in the country and making money in the country, should come forward and pay their taxes they should not wait for GRA to come after them.
“I want to thank taxpayers, because it’s not easy to get away with money, and its love for the country that’s why they pay their taxes. So, I want to thank them very much for that,” he concluded.