GRA organises tax awareness seminar for UTG

By Maimuna Sey-Jawo The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) with support from the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) recently held a day-long tax seminar for students and staff of the University of The Gambia at Kanifing. The seminar is part of GRA’s ongoing strategy to engage, educate and sensitise the general public on the taxes it administers. The forum that brought together at least 75 participants was held at the UTG Peace Building. In his statement Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe stressed that GRA is engaging the UTG and other key stakeholders such as regional authorities and the business community in a series of programmes to deepen their understanding on revenue management and administration. He said the seminar will also discuss new tax reforms and clarify challenges faced by the authority and taxpayers in the process of collecting taxes for government. He noted that the GRA together with the Ministry of Finance had undertaken reforms aimed at revising tax rates in some key revenue lines including among others, rental income tax, corporate income tax, employment and individual income tax. He further stated that there are ongoing efforts to improve the business environment with more focus placed on expanding the tax base through compliance improvement initiatives such as the forum. “It is our hope that these reforms will subsequently accord positive impact on the living standards of the citizenry,” he said. CG Darboe told the students that the UTG as the country’s highest institution of learning delivering credible academic and professional training to civil and public servants and students, will continue to have positive impacts on GRAs duties and functions. “We hope that the UTG will continue to support the implementation of governments tax reforms initiatives aimed at improving revenue collection for national development. As revenue administrators we will continue to value and appreciate the UTG’s partnership and I kindly urge the administration to always engage the authority on matters of taxation to enhance greater understanding and appreciation,” he concluded. Ebrima Corr of UTG said training UTG students on tax compliance to understand the tax system as they go into their future careers is important and will enhance the social development of the country.]]>