Tax consultants’ mafia troubles acting Tax Chief
Mafias appear to emerge in every nook and cranny in Sri Lanka with the latest entry being the tax consultants’ mafia, causing headaches to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).
In a bid to tackle this problem, the department is offering free tax consultancy services and at the same time promoting voluntary compliance, the acting tax chief revealed at a meeting with trade union leaders in Colombo on Wednesday.
Acting Commissioner General, Ms. R.M.R.W. Manchanayake (right) along with officials and some trade union leaders at the discussion. Pic by Mangala Weerasekera
Acting Commissioner General R.M.R.W. Manchanayake said tax consultants take advantage of their client’s lack of proper understanding on tax structure and tax laws and mislead taxpayers by informing them that they will have to bribe tax officers to get some concessions when paying their tax dues.
Most of the tax consultants charge exorbitant fees while the service by the department comes at no charge, she said adding that the department will use the staff at the main office and its network of provincial offices to carry out the new consultancy service.
Union leaders noted that because of the tax consultants’ mafia, tax officers have been branded as bribe takers. They emphasised that their duty and obligation is to help taxpayers in every aspect of payment process including filling of necessary forms, etc.
Welcoming this proposal, trade union leader Gamini Weleboda of Inland Revenue Staff Officers Union expressed the belief that the advisory service will attract more people and business enterprises to their offices eliminating their fear of being brought under a strict tax net.
He said that the tax consultants’ mafia has ruined the respect of honest officials by claiming money from clients selling the names of officials.
While expressing her concern on the failure to make her acting appointment to Commissioner General even after one month, Ms. Manchanayake pointed out that she has plans to streamline the tax administration and revenue collection process and at the moment she is involved in overseeing the day- to-day functions of the IRD.
She says the work at IRD has not slowed down after her acting appointment and that all allegations leveled against her were baseless. All employees and trade unions are extending their support to her, she added.
IRD Commissioner and a leader of the Staff Officers Association Sarath Abeyratne noted that, their obligation is to achieve revenue targets treating all taxpayers alike without considering political affiliations. At present there is no problem in working with Ms. Manchanayake, he emphasised.
Ms. Manchanayake also denied the allegation of heeding to the pressure of some trade union leaders which has resulted in creating a lethargic attitude among other employees.
Joint secretary of the Inland Revenue Service Union A. A. Udayasiri disclosed that they have submitted a set of proposals to Treasury secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera bringing to the notice of the government, the present situation at the IRD and remedial measures.
He said that one of their proposals was to reduce the present work load of officials who are each handling around 800 to 1200 corporate tax files. It is difficult to handle such a work load by a single official and therefore they made a proposal to the Treasury to direct the IRD administration to set up at least 12 corporate tax branches to handle 2000 files each reducing the number of files to around 200 per official to make the service more efficient.
He revealed that Dr. Jayasundera has told them to settle this matter with the acting Commissioner General. The purpose of the meeting with Ms. Manchanayke was to inform her about this directive and discuss other matters relating to their proposals. Mr. Udayasiri said that trade unions were of the view that the tax chief should spearhead the work of achieving set targets and goals of the department treating officials in a just and fair manner.
If the present acting Commissioner General deviates from these responsibilities then trade unions will have to protest against her, he said.
Referring to revenue collection, Ms. Manchanayake disclosed that the department has collected Rs. 217 million up to 31st July 2014 while the estimated revenue is Rs. 267 million. Normally the Treasury sets high target in the budget and at the end of the year these estimates are revised, she said.