By Omar Bah
As part of its ongoing reform process and engagement with citizens, the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) yesterday engaged 30 students of the UTG School of Journalism and Faculty of Law and 10 senior staff of the university on tax administration matters.
The meeting held at the Faculty of Law, focused on raising the awareness level of students and staff on issues related to taxation matters, GRA mandates, tax systems, rights and obligations as taxpayers, role of customs in facilitating trade and revenue laws administered by the authority.
The engagement is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA).
In a statement delivered on his behalf by Ernest A. Mendy, the GRA director of human resources, Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe said the GRA like many tax administrations in Africa is faced with the perennial problems of compliance with the revenue laws.
“The problem of non-compliance strongly impedes revenue mobilization. We need to continuously engage, sensitize and educate the public and businesses on the importance of paying taxes,” he said.
He said the GRA strongly believes that through such engagements the UTG staff and students will contribute significantly to information sharing to create awareness on the mandate of GRA.
“It would also help participants understand the different tax types, laws and most specifically the importance of paying tax and being tax compliant to boost our revenue mobilization efforts. It is also hoped that this seminar will strengthen our collaboration to support the implementation of the government’s tax reform initiatives aimed at improving revenue collection for national development,” CG Darboe said.
He said GRA remains steadfast in pursuing its mandate by ensuring that citizens and entities have better understanding about the tax system as well know their rights and honour their obligations to pay their fair share of taxes as legislated by the National Assembly.
“It is our firm belief that these are fundamental issues every citizen needs to understand, particularly you students at the University, who are either taxpayers already or future taxpayers,” he stated.
The representative of the UTG Vice Chancellor, Ousainou Korr who doubles as the director of finance at the university said the seminar would widen the UTG students’ understanding of taxation and its contribution towards the country’s development aspirations.
