IRS ORGANISES INTEGRATED SOFTWARE SEMINAR (PAGE 44)

THE Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is in the process of developing an integrated software that will enable it to capture data on taxpayers in electronic format.
According to the IRS, the facility would ensure a swift flow of information using Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) among all its district offices in phases.
The Commissioner of the IRS, Major D.S. Ablorh-Quarcoo (retd), who announced this at the opening ceremony of a management seminar in Takoradi, gave the assurance that there would be 100 per cent automation of the system by next year.
The theme for the seminar was, “Modernising business processes for higher productivity in tax administration”.
He said tax administration the world over was going through changes, with most institutions taking advantage of modern technology, and that Ghana could not be an exception.
He announced that the IRS improved on its 2007 revenue by 35.62 per cent in 2008.
The total revenue collected, he said, was GH¢1,234 million, as against a target of GH¢1,122 million.
In 2007, the service collected GH¢910 million as revenue, as against a target of GH¢887 million, representing a growth of 26.54 per cent.
The revenue target for this year is GH¢1,512 million.
Major Ablorh-Quarcoo explained that the generally good performance last year could be attributed to the responsiveness of staff to calls from management for attitudinal change and the partial computerisation in some district offices.
He said it could also be attributed to the integration of the one per cent withholding tax on commercial importers into the GCNet collection system managed through the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) at the entry points, as well as improvement in operations as a result of the functions of the reformed Quality Assurance and Compliance Division, formerly the Tax Examination Division.
Major Ablorh-Quarcoo said airport tax had been a major headache for the service as it struggled to get the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and later the Ghana Airports Company to pay taxes they had collected on behalf of the service.
He said negotiations went on for a long time until February 2008 when an agreement was reached between the IRS and the board of airline representatives in Ghana on a new system of payment.
The commissioner explained that the strategies for achieving this year’s target included the building of reliable data for the district offices to determine the true potential of each district and also prepare the offices for computerisation.
He said they also included improving business processes and procedures, as well as exhorting staff to continue to adopt a more positive attitude to work and expanding its dealings further into the informal sector, particularly with vehicle income tax (VIT) and tax stamp, as well as rent income tax.
Major Ablorh-Quarcoo added that the service would enhance its capacity to enforce the tax laws and promote compliance among the tax paying public and embark on a programme of consistent tax education and promotion of a new culture of voluntary compliance among all segments of the Ghanaian society.
The Executive Director of AA&K Consulting, Mr David Adom, noted that administrators in the public sector struggled to keep pace with the rate of technological change.
Consequently, business processes in the public service tended to lag behind those of the multinationals.
Mr Adom emphasised that in order to meet taxpayers’ aspirations, the IRS should endeavour to keep abreast of changing times by modernising its business processes and addressing the challenges of taxpayers in meeting their tax obligations.
The assessment and collection of taxes, he said, should be efficient and effective and, above all, be very convenient to taxpayers.
“Efficiency and effectiveness in revenue generation can be achieved by improving and modernising business processes in the IRS and other revenue agencies. However, improvement in business processes alone cannot bring the desired results,” he said.
Of equal importance, Mr Adom said, was staff motivation, as well as improvement in staff welfare, adequate logistics, staff skills development, improved customer relations, marketing strategies and adequate and timely funding of projects.