The document discusses GRA's perspectives on the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics workshop. It provides an overview of GRA, including its historical development, responsibilities, and faced challenges. Some of its key challenges include inadequate capacity for large-scale surveys, incomplete border trade data, and lack of modern statistical tools. GRA plans to address these through staff training, purchasing new software, conducting surveys, and collaborating with GBOS. It recommends prioritizing activities, improving collaboration, and ensuring reliable and relevant data collection.

1. GRA’S PERSECTIVES ON THE
NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF STATISTICS
(NSDS) WORKSHOP
14TH
-16TH
NOVEMBER, 2012
ASSAN JALLOW
SENIOR COMPLIANCE & STRATEGY OFFICER
DIRECTORATE OF TECHNICAL SERVICES
TEL: 9869316 EMAIL:
assubj78@yahoo.co.uk/ ajallow@gra.gm

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE:
 Historical development of GRA
 Responsibilities/ Functions of GRA
 Faced Institutional Challenges
 Planned Statistical developments
 Planned Surveys
 Recommendations
 Conclusions

3. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF GRA
 Existed as separate institutions from the
mainstream Ministry of Finance;
 Established as semi-autonomous revenue
administration with an institutional ‘de jure and
de facto’ autonomy in 2004;
 - Transformation from tax based into functional
tax base;
- To institutionalize better institutional
collaboration and coordination in revenue
generation and tax administration;

4. RESPONSIBILITIES/ FUNCTIONS OF GRA
 Assess, collect and account all revenues due to the
government;
 Ensure that all revenue collected is as soon as reasonably,
practicable and paid to the CRS;
 Administer and enforce the GRA Act and the revenue laws;
 Promote full compliance with tax laws;
 Promote and strengthen bilateral and other stakeholders
interest;
 To strengthen effective tax handles in order to maintain the
necessary safeguard measures to ensure timely and effective
detection and deterrence mechanism against tax frauds,
avoidance and evasions;

5. CONT’D RESPONSIBILITIES/ FUNCTIONS
OF
 Advise the Minister of Finance (MOFEA) on matters
relating to the administration and collection of
revenue under the GRA Act and the revenue laws;
 Perform such other functions in relation to revenue,
as the Minister of Finance may direct;
 GRA generates:
- Import and export data
- Re-export data;
- Transit data
- Data on revenue statistics and revenue expenditures;
- List of taxpayers and corporate businesses, sectors &
industry types;

6. CHALLENGES
 Interfacing of the ASYCUDA++ and GAMTAXNET for ease of
information flow and sharing;
 Inadequate requisite internal capacity to conduct large scale
surveys (i.e. human capacity, skill gaps on relevant statistical
packages;
 Rollout of the two IT platforms to all our provincial customs
border posts and tax branch offices, across the country;
 Incomplete information on the re-export trade due to largely
unrecorded cross border trade transactions;
 Automation of all manual files;
 GAMTAXNET not fully functional;

7. CONT’D: CHALLENGES
 Dependence on obsolete /outdated statistical tools
 Inadequate verification of data being inputted into the system
due to various data entry points in the advent of ASYCUDA++
 Lack of due diligence and functional verification on submitted
TIN forms;
 Poor coordination and non-sharing of institutional data;
 Lack of modern statistical tools/software;
 Non-responsive to data request;
 Inadequate budget

8. PLANNED DEVELOPMENTS
 Committed to effective statistical development in The Gambia;
 Committed in the promotion of statistical planning for
effective resource mobilization and utilization;
 Purchasing of modern statistical tools/ packages or software
for the effective generation and management of data;
 Recruitment of planners and statisticians with strong
competencies on mathematics, economics;
 Conduction of periodic surveys and researches;
 To continuously collaborate with GBOS in our statistical
needs;

9. PLANNED SURVEYS
 Taxpayer Survey, 2013. Budgeted cost D1.5
Million;
 Service Delivery Survey 2012: Estimated cost is
D1.5 Million

10. RECOMMENDATIONS:
 Prioritization of activities;
 Aggressive approach towards staff professional
development;
 Deepening greater inter-institutional collaboration and
coordination;
 Ensuring reliable, accurate, timely and relevant data;
 GBOS to take the lead and enforce the statistical Act non-
compromisingly;
 GBOS to effectively conduct a rigorous awareness
campaign on its ‘modus operandi’, mandates and functions;

11. CONCLUSION
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR KIND
ATTENTION AND LET US DUSCUSS.
“The only certain thing in life is death and taxes”.
So Pay Your Taxes and Help Build The Gambia!