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Singapore-style online tax system
View(s):A Singapore style tax collection system where payments and transactions made by individuals and companies with 26 state institutions will be monitored from the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) will come into effect in October, Tax chief Kalyani Dahanayake said yesterday.
The IRD Commissioner General told the Sunday Times that the new system would enable the department to use a computerised network to expand the collection of taxes and draw new tax payers into the system. Under the project, the Tax Department will be able to draw information from the respective institutions directly and estimate the tax payments.
“For instance if a person owns an additional vehicle without declaring it in his or her tax returns, the information can be obtained from the Motor Traffic Department and taxes can be imposed accordingly,” Ms Dahanayake said. Among the state institutions networked under the system are the Central Bank, the Bank of Ceylon, the People’s Bank, Customs, the Motor Traffic Department, the Credit Information Bureau, the Registrar of Companies, the Board of Investment, the Registrar General’s Department, the Lands Registrar, the insurance sector, the Ceylon Electricity Board, the Condominium Authority, the Colombo Stock Exchange, the Export Development Board, the Department of the Registration of Persons, the Immigration and Emigration Department, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and the Excise Department.
Ms. Dahanayake said taxpayers would be given regular reminders of the payments, arrears and on estimates prepared by the IRD based on information obtained through the system. She said the system would replace a bulk of the manual files maintained by the Department and it would be more convenient for taxpayers to make their payments. Among the benefits to the taxpayers would be the facility of e-filing, e-services of request for refunds, and a pin number to make online payments.
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the Government hoped to raise the tax revenue by 35 percent or by Rs. 60 billion annually with the new system in place.