Phase 2 Tax Project Launched

The Internal Revenue Commission launched phase two of the Goods and Services Tax Section 65A project last Friday, 1st October.

The GST section 65A project started in August 2020 with 16 authorized withholders in the government sector. The project aims to address the non-compliance of suppliers to government and prevent revenue leakages.

To ease the labourious work engaged in reporting and accounting for GST, IRC collaborated with the Department of Finance to configure the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) to withhold GST. Phase one of IFMS was launched in May, with 37 government departments now using the IFMS system to withhold GST.

IRC Commissioner General, Sam Koim, said the GST 65A Project is successful. The GST collection from this project to date is over K100 million and in increasing every month.

Phase two of the project commenced last Friday, starting with 13 provincial governments and 13 public health authorities (PHAs) currently using the IFMS.  

Districts will follow once all the they are all registered and assigned a Tax Identification Number (TIN).

Phase three of GST Implementation in IFMS will cover trusts, statutory bodies and other remaining agencies.

IRC expects to double the monthly collection by then.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions have had a significant impact on the economy and tax collections. Therefore, IRC are undertaking strategies like this to address non-compliance and mitigate revenue losses.

Author: 
Marysilla Kellerton