By Omar Bah
Former APRC National Assembly member and CRR Deputy Governor, Sainey Mbye has extolled the Gambia Revenue Authority’s leadership for annually meeting the government’s targeted revenue collection.
Addressing a tax seminar organised by GRA for local district authorities and business communities at the governor’s office, Honourable Mbye said the authority has continued to meet its revenue targets despite the numerous global economic challenges.
“So, the GRA leadership deserve to be commended. They also need the collaboration and coordination of sectors to ensure that they continue to collect the much-needed revenue for national development,” he said.
The seminar seeks to sensitise the local authority and business communities on tax systems administered by GRA and by extension its roles and mandates in National development.
“In the past years, GRA was collecting revenue at a very low scale but since the appointment of Yankuba Darboe – the authority has been doing extremely well and they have not come short of their targets,” he added.
He said his office will continue to collaborate and complement GRA’s efforts in ensuring that residents of Central River Region honor their tax obligations to the state, adding that the Gambia is a tax-base economy without which the government cannot realise its development aspirations.
“I therefore challenge the local authorities to ensure that people doing business in their villages pay their tax. I also encourage the GRA to expand their outreach program at the grassroots that will greatly help to increase revenue collection,” he said.
He commended the GRA for initiating such sensitisation, saying tax payers should be aware of the type of taxes they need to pay and benefits attached to it.
The chief of Nianija, Dawda York also commended the leadership of GRA for organising the regional tax seminar. “This will go a long way in improving tax compliance at the grassroots. The GRA’s work is not easy in the sense that no one wants to pay tax to the government but I believe it’s lack of awareness,” he said.
Chief York challenged the GRA to take the sensitisation to all corners of the country to ensure that taxpayers are well informed about the importance of paying taxes.
