Latest update March 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 21, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Ten years ago, reports in the press indicated that there was a re-migration duty free scam in which more than fifty bogus duty free letters were issued. These letters allowed for the importation of luxury vehicles.
None of the importers of those vehicles has faced criminal charges. In fact, the only persons who faced the Courts were two low-level clerks, one from the Ministry of Finance and the other from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The person responsible for signing off the concessions was never charged. Nor were any of the vehicles seized by the State. This was ten years ago.
It needs to be asked what has become of this investigation and how come none of the importers were ever indicted or charged, and how come none of the vehicles were ever confiscated by the State.
Ten years onwards we are told that the Auditor General is investigating the importation of vehicles under the same remigration scheme. However, unlike what the Stabroek News is contending, this investigation is unrelated to the charges against the publisher of Kaieteur News because from reports, the investigation by the Auditor General did not originate within the GRA. Instead, the Auditor General was asked to undertake the investigation after reports surfaced that there was a conspiracy, involving GRA staff, in the administration of the re-migration concessions.
Ten years ago, the GRA did not charge any of the importers of over fifty suspect duty free letters. Nor were any vehicles seized. Ten years onwards, the Auditor General has had to be called in to investigate reports of fraud in the granting of concessions to re-migrants.
What does this say about the management of the GRA in so far as the issuance of duty free concessions to re-migrants is concerned? How come ten years onwards, the Auditor General has to be called in to investigate charges of fraud in the issuance of concessions on motor vehicles brought in by returning Guyanese?
To have to call in the Auditor General indicates that there is something seriously wrong within the GRA and its capacity to police and investigate its systems. It also suggests a lack of confidence by the political administration in the ability of the GRA to undertake such a probe. Otherwise, instead of calling in the Auditor General, the GRA would have been asked to undertake its own in-house probe.
It does not paint a good picture when the main revenue collecting agency of the State has to be subject to a probe by the Auditor General. This is a most disturbing development and one that should now trigger demands for a management audit of the institution, to determine whether there is problem with the way the country’s tax department is administered. When the Auditor General has to be called in to investigate fraud within the country’s tax agency it is disturbing, and sends the wrong signals to the taxpayers, and to the international community that funds reforms in the country’s system of tax administration.
In fact, ever since the formation of the Guyana Revenue Authority, the frauds committed against the tax department have begun to read more like organized crime. There have been all manner of reports of multi-million-dollar frauds against the GRA. At one time there was an alleged Polar Beer scam in which the State was said to have been defrauded of hundreds of millions of dollars. Earlier this year, a report appeared in the media that a suspect in a $300M fraud in the GRA was held in the United States and is awaiting the outcome of deportation proceedings. According to a report in the local media, four persons including cashiers and an information technology specialist were wanted in relation to this fraud? This suggests high tech methods were used in the commission of this fraud? There were also reports of scams in relation to the chassis of vehicles being tampered with and another scam relating to the importation of All-Terrain Vehicles. Last year, there was a report in the media about a scam involving the issuance of bogus drivers’ licences.
In the face of all of these scams, one has to question why there has never been a management audit of the GRA, to determine if the manner in which this agency is administered is not contributing to the high incidence of fraud. This sort of assessment should have long been undertaken. Rather than having to call in the Auditor General every time there is a major fraud, it is necessary to examine if there are any loopholes or management issues that are contributing to the problems of fraud besetting the tax department. It is hoped that in his report the Auditor General will comment on the management of these concessions by the GRA.
Not so long ago, one of the country’s top accountants, Chris Ram, queried about the status of the Annual Reports of the GRA. These reports would provide information not just on how much money the GRA has been collecting, but how efficient it has been in this collection and some of the challenges, including administrative challenges, which need to be addressed to ensure a reduction of fraud within the tax agency.
Unless the management is righted, it makes no sense implementing new systems or reforms because no system, no matter how well designed, is going to function effectively unless it is backed by strong management.
Listen to the man that is throwing Guyanese bright future away
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