INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Committee on Public Accounts COPA revealed that the total arrears of taxes, penalties and interest in due to the Inland Revenue
Department as at June 30th, 2022 is Rs
773 billion.It was disclosed that an amount of Rs
201 billion has been identified as income that can be collected without any legal concern and that Rs
572 billion has been identified as income that has been suspended due to certain reasons.It was also pointed out by the Auditor General that
this amount has been identified as the total arrears of tax to be collected under both the RAMIS and Legacy systems.In addition, there was a
long discussion about the failure to collect Rs
201 billion which is available as revenue from this tax arrears.Accordingly, the present officials pointed out that recovery of this money
in instalment basis has already started.The chairman to the committee, MP Kabir Hashim recommended that a report be given to COPA containing
information on how to collect the tax arrears identified as chargeable income in parts or with dates.This was disclosed when the Inland
Revenue Department was summoned before COPA on Monday (Nov
28) under the chairmanship of MP Hashim to review the progress of implementing recommendations given by COPA held on March 24, 2021 and look
into whether the Inland Revenue Department is capable of achieving the tax revenue proposed in the 2023 Budget.COPA chairman pointed out
that the government has expected Rs
1,852 billion as estimated tax revenue in the year 2022 and plans to increase it to Rs
3,130 billion in the 2023 budget
Therefore, questions were raised as to whether the Inland Revenue Department can get a 69% increase in the 2023 budget despite the huge tax
arrears already in existence.He further pointed out that if this expected tax revenue is not achieved, there will be a big budget gap and
all the desired goals as a country will fail.The COPA chairman also pointed out that the Revenue Administration Management Information
System (RAMIS) has been identified as a key factor for the recovery of this tax money.Furthermore, the Auditor General pointed out that
despite spending an amount exceeding Rs
10 billion to prepare this RAMIS system, it is not functioning at a proper level
The Auditor General also mentioned that although this has been pointed out in the COPA Committee on several occasions before, no formal
steps have been taken in this regard.The Auditor General also revealed that the Inland Revenue Department did not provide him with
information about the agreement and payments related to the RAMIS system.The Inland Revenue Department has told the Auditor General that it
is not possible for him to provide the information according to the agreement and that it is unconstitutional.Accordingly, since there are
problems in many aspects of the RAMIS system, including the procurement procedure, the COPA recommended to give a report within a month with
dates on making this system operational in a manner suitable for the country.Therefore, as there are problems in many aspects of the RAMIS
system, including the procurement, COPA recommended a report to be given within a month with dates on the implementation of this system in a
manner suitable for the country
The COPA chairman also mentioned that if the report is insufficient, they will conduct an audit of the transaction.Furthermore, as of June
30, 2022, it was also revealed that there were 4,831 return checks worth Rs
It was also revealed that 3,817 out of these returned cheques are worth Rs
1,429,356,750 and are more than 3 years old.The committee questioned the lack of legal action in this regard and the officers present stated
that their department does not have the authority to take legal action.The COPA chairman pointed out that this is a criminal offense and
that the necessary legal proceedings in this regard should be implemented soon.He recommended that a report be given to the COPA within a
month regarding the legal action taken in this regard after consultation with the Attorney General’s Department.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://adaderana.lk
