Heads roll at IRD in shake-up after failure to meet revenue targets
View(s):With the tax collection targets gone awry by Rs.44 billion in the first five months this year, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has been directed towards a major management and administration re-structuring process making changes in tax collection divsions and rolling some heads.
These changes in the higher administration structure come a few months or weeks before the impending retirement of the Commissioner General Mallika Samarasekara, official sources said.
The Treasury has blamed the department hierarchy and top officials for the failure to collect Rs. 44 billion out of a revenue target of Rs. 189 billion for the first five months to May. The IRD has collected only Rs.145 billion of the target.
At meeting held between top IRD officials and Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundara this week, the latter blamed officials for not making concerted efforts to collect taxes, informed sources said.
In the meantime, the non-payment of bonus for the officials, the uncertainty regarding the appointment of a head of the institution and the failure to bring expected results through the modernisation process of the institution have created frustration among IRD officials, the sources said.
A decision has now been taken at the top level to implement a comprehensive rollout plan, and a human resource capacity development initiative to equip officials with the necessary knowledge and techniques to undertake revenue collection efficiently. A Revenue Administration Management Information System is being introduced with technical assistance of the Singapore Government a couple of years ago.
Human resource development on subject specific knowledge and change management is being done through top institutions including the National University of Singapore and other training programmes supported by the Asian Development Bank, the sources added.The Ministry of Finance and Planning has already launched a project for modernisation of the IRD under the ADB-funded Fiscal Management Reform Programme.
Another thorny issue is the appointment of the new Commissioner General from the six most senior officials after the retirement of Ms. Samarasekara, following a recent regulation that this position should be held by the most competent and qualified with long term service experience.
Thus, unlike before, the most senior official will not be considered as the only criterion in appointing the IRD Commissioner General.
The communication flow of these structures are not so smooth and the decision making process is bureaucratised to a great extent, a senior official of IRD said adding that this system is now being changed under the re-structuring programme.