Anti-graft plan likely for revenue authority
Stabroek News
September 9, 2002

Related Links: Articles on corruption
Letters Menu Archival Menu

Defining and implementing an anti-corruption programme may be part of an agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund as efforts get underway to strengthen the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The government has committed itself to an IMF programme and also recognised the need to maintain fiscal and financial discipline. With the help of the IMF, the World Bank and the donor community, the government is to consider the reform of tax policy and upgrading the GRA, among other reform measures, according to an updated World Bank project profile for the public sector technical assistance credit (PSTAC) project.

In bolstering the GRA, which falls under the component of strengthening fiscal, financial and fiduciary management to improve accountability, transparency and efficiency in the project being negotiated, it is expected that tax experts would be hired to implement agreed reforms over a period of a year or more.

The updated project information document on the World Bank website says the creation of the GRA was in part to address corruption and this work needs to be continued with the government defining and implementing an anti-corruption programme. The project profile raises the need for new regulations to allow for the dismissal of corrupt officials and for systems and training programmes to be effected.

According to an updated US$4.4M PSTAC project profile, there is need for basic institutional strengthening of the GRA's business systems and revision, documentation and dissemination of procedures and guidelines to improve tax and customs systems. The document said that training of customs and tax officials must accompany these reforms.

Preparations also need to be made for implementing agreed tax reforms including possible work for a new value added tax (VAT). The project document noted that the recent diagnostic tax study makes concrete recommendations for changes in existing taxes as part of a transition to reform the system which could see VAT being introduced. It said that developing, regulating and documenting these reforms could be launched by the PSTAC.

Additionally, the project will support a study to review the laws on public disclosure so as to strengthen the disclosure requirements for public sector officials and to see the reorganisation of the Integrity Commission. The project document noted that senior public officials are required to file disclosure forms of their personal assets but coverage is incomplete and there is no follow-up once the records are filed and enforcement is lacking. The outcome of the study would be to reform the disclosure framework to incorporate good practices from elsewhere.

This falls under the subcomponent of fiduciary oversight which will finance three critical studies including the one on public disclosures. The results and recommendations of these studies are to be publicly debated and will form the basis of draft legislation and regulations.

The first of the studies will look at existing legislation regarding the economic services committee and a supporting secretariat as part of measures to strengthen the fiduciary oversight committee linked to the National Assembly. The study will look to develop an operational framework for such a secretariat, systems and procedures for conducting analysis and presenting findings, rules and procedures for the committee's deliberations and identifying skills and training requirements for the secretariat staff.

Another study will look to limit the discretionary powers in key line agencies and ministries given the need to do so from earlier studies. The project profile noted that the cost to Guyana in terms of foregone revenues and distorted incentives is significant and the new study will review and evaluate existing laws and regulations to determine how they are implemented in key revenue earning institutions and to make recommendations to reform the discretionary framework.

Other aspects of the PSTAC project already reported on include consolidating payroll and human resource databases to strengthen the basis for civil service management; supporting the government's privatisation activity; strengthening existing social safety net programmes; and developing the institutional capacity to manage, monitor, evaluate and research which will include strengthening the Bureau of Statistics.

In the more than two years since its formation, the annual reports of the GRA are still to be made public and there has been little information coming from the government on whether the GRA has met the targets set for it when it was created out of the merged Customs and Excise Department and Inland Revenue Department.

Last week, Commissioner-General of the GRA Edgar Heyligar withdrew his services from the body. When asked by Stabroek News for a reason he would only say that "I don't condone lawlessness and I am not compromising my integrity".