Thursday July 29th, 2010
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Revenue collection a moving target—Tesheira
Published: 11 Feb 2010
Finance Minister Karen Tesheira sits in Parliament alongside Attorney General John Jeremie.
The establishment of the Revenue Authority (TTRA) will help T&T establish a modern system of revenue collection that will enable it to compete in the modern world, according to Finance Minister Karen Tesheira. “It is necessary to examine the complexities of managing revenue collection in the 21st century. T&T is an open economy and we have a vibrant energy sector in which many of the major companies are branches of international companies. “We also have a vibrant services sector and the intention of this Government is to continue to nurture this sector so that it makes a contribution to employment and as well as the economic development of the country,” she said. She added that the TTRA should be able to meet the challenges that exist in modern environment. “The complexities of managing revenue collection in this environment is a moving target. There are significant and fundamental changes taking place.
The administration of revenue collection should be able to meet the many challenges the new environment has brought with it. “It is critical that the collection and receipt of money in the public sector should keep place with revolutionary changes that have taken place in the way that money is made and transmitted.
Transmitting money
“For example, a significant amount of money is made in the international arena of services and is transmitted around the world in a click of a mouse. “We believe that we must be in a position to ensure that those who benefit from these services that Government provide, pay their equitable share of the cost of those services,” she said. She said this yesterday at the piloting of the T&T Revenue Authority Bill in Parliament. Tesheira said in setting up the TTRA, they used foreign models as a guide. “In choosing an organisational structure for the Revenue Authority, the Government reviewed the establishment, structure and operating successes of revenue authorities around the world and decided to benchmark our designs against Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs of the United Kingdom.
Benchmarking
“Based on comparative research and benchmarking for best practice, a functional model was established to identify the key functional processes that a modern revenue authority should have,” she said. Tesheira listed a number of countries that were looked at when they were creating the TTRA. “The measures taken to accomplish this objective has been tried and tested with good success in almost 50 countries across the world, like Botswana, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Uganda, UK and Zambia,” she said. She also said that the present public service system cannot satisfy need for a more efficient system. “When we look at the current institutional arrangements, it is clear that these minimum requirements are not met and, it is doubtful it could be met within the current framework.
Revenue Authority model
“This Government is of the view that the challenges and risks are to significant to allow things to continue the way they are and so we came to the revenue authority model of revenue collection and management,” she said. In describing the technical aspects of the TTRA, she said modern technology will be used. “The Revenue Authority will be investing in state of the art technology which will form the foundation for executing the function of revenue collection and the administration of the TTRA. The TTRA will see the full implementation of both the automated systems for custom data entry Asycuda Word and integrated test processing systems recently introduced at the Inland Revenue. “The public and the business community can be assured of a high level of transparency and efficiency with which both information technology systems operate would be maintained and become more efficient and in no way will be compromised by service delivery,” Tesheira said.
Horse Face dummy.... You are
Horse Face dummy.... You are an idiot... Go back to the paddocks at Arima please..... You are a hypocrite who looks down on people just like your Godly Prime Minister... This one is the nail on the PNM coffin.... You know how they say "Divide & Conquer"... well this bill will unite the opposition & the Unions to bury this PNM government... I am sure some of you all know that, so you continue to try to plunder as much from our treasury before you leave office... Don't worry.... The same way Panday in court... we will make sure you all have your day.... Bastards....
Nobody is against
Nobody is against modernizing the system with better service and accountability but what most people are against is giving more power to people who have shown that they are willing to abuse power.Nobody in their right minds would like to give them
(1) The authority to hire and fire who they want
(2) The direct control of billions of dollars by the Emperor
(3)The same lack of transparency as exists in UDECOTT
Karen said that we are going
Karen said that we are going to use the Structure and methods used in the UK. That is all well and good, but are we going to change the mentality and work ethic of the the people who use the said structure and methods?. It will never happen, it is the same khaki pants. Change the people's mentality and work ethic and then change the structure and methods.
Zide Hosein Very
Zide Hosein
Very nice post! (^_^)
but are we going to change the mentality and work ethic of the the people who use the said structure and methods?... Change the people's mentality and work ethic and then change the structure and methods.
Or, is it possible to do the two aspects simultaneously? Provide training to change/evolve the mentality and work ethic alongside the structural and procedural changes? Then for those who do not adapt or like it, they can be reassigned either internally or invited to leave.
One should not go from riding a push bike, to a motor bike without some form of training/adjustment.
La Diva
The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. For to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves-and the better the teacher, the better the student body. Warren Buffett
Why are we afraid of
Why are we afraid of modernizing the system? It looks like the new TTRA system will be able to track digital transactions, ensure the state (that's us) gets its share and above all reduce tax evasion.
I also think the fact that the system will copy the structure and methods used in the UK gives the initiative more credibility and better prospects for success.
http://cartelwatch.blogspot.com/
Copied from the linked
Copied from the linked article
Cartel Watch
Why are we afraid of modernizing the system?
Change, or the Change Process in an organization is usually fraught with problems/anxieties. Think about it in respect to your own life, that if you do something 'out of the norm' then does it not raise your body temperature a bit, until such time as you a) have mastered the 'change' and b) realise that extent of the 'fight or flight' situation.
Therefore, resistance to change is normal.
What ought not be 'normal' however, is to say that X ought not be done and it is policitizing a service, when there is a track record of ineffectiveness and inefficiency, and not offer up anything in its place. To me, this is what is unacceptable.
If EVERYTHING was running at around 70-80% efficiency, one could possibly say, okay. Why fix what isn't broken and we will do ABC to raise the efficiency level closer to 100%. But, this is something that has been 'broken' for YEARS and the Chair is calling for the maintenance of the status quo? Or is he similarly out of touch as other members of the T&T executive?
La Diva
The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. For to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves-and the better the teacher, the better the student body. Warren Buffett
I was an admirer of Dr
I was an admirer of Dr Rowley's courage but I have now lost all respect for Dr Rowley when I saw him supporting this bill.He is fully aware of the lack of transparency at UDECOTT but he is supporting another entity very similar to UDECOTT.I now believe he is just about DR ROWLEY.He knew the EMPEROR was gunning for him so he launched an attack defense because he knew of the wheeling and dealing going on at UDECOTT.But now he knows that they (THE PNM)are waiting on him ,to not support this bill, so as to kick him out the party he comes up with a COCK AND BULL about why he will support this bill.We need sweeping changes in this country to sweep out all these CONMEN and DINOSAURS
I AM NOT DEFENDING ROWLEY
I AM NOT DEFENDING ROWLEY -
This is why it is so dangerous to form opinions from the press only who have their own agenda. I listened to the debate and Rowley adequately addresses your concerns.He did elaborate on the inconsistencies and in the end when reference was made to 26 votes he asked 26. His support seems to be conditional on the answers to his objections of the inconsistencies.
The basic Pension formula
The basic Pension formula for Public Officers looks like this:
Full annual pension = Total number of months worked (limited to 400) x annual salary /600
The pension amount is reduced if you opt for a lump sum gratuity.
Keep in mind that Temporary officers are not eligible for a Pension, only a lump sum.
The purpose of the TTRA was
The purpose of the TTRA was to merge the revenue collection agencies of IRD and Customs under one organisation - thats all. So, in principle, the TTRA is a laudable idea since one expects that there can be synergies where individuals and organisations can have a single BIR/Tax number for Inland Revenue and Customs purposes. Government will then be able to track its tax collection accurately and quickly.
The software systems that Ms. Tesheira is so quick to laud and is implying that NEEDS the TTRA is already up and running and being operated by public and contract officers. I believe that discussions are already underway between the staff in charge of the ASYCUDA (Customs) and Gentax (Inland Revenue) systems because a single organisational structure won't help unless information can be extracted and reconciled from the two information management systems.
What is troubling to me is the way the staffing of the new entity is being treated. The Minister has stated that information bulletins were sent out to staff who would not be going into the new entity about their termination benefits. There are two things wrong with this statement:
No 1: As at this date, no staff member knows if s/he is going to the new entity or if s/he is going to be terminated. They were informed that the vacancies would be advertised and open to the public and that they would not get any priority for selection into the new entity. They do not know how many positions will be required and they do not know if there will be new qualification requirements to be met.
No 2: Only permanent officers and temporary officers who are age 55 and over stand to recieve any pension benefits. Temporary officers who do not fall into these categories only stand to recieve a lump sum based on the number of years service and on their substantive salary only - not their acting.
Keep in mind that a substantial number of staff of the two entities are Temporary Clerk I's who are acting as Clerk II, III, IV, Accounting personnel. Many of these Temporary officers have been temporary for 10-15 years.
The reason these officers are temporary is NOT through poor performance but because the Service Commissions Department (SCD) has a backlog of appointments to make in the Clerical and Accounting classes. Unfortunatley, the SCD cannot appoint these classes of officers in the IRD/Customs in isolation from the rest of the Public Service - it must do so based on the seniority lists which include hundreds of Clerks thoughout the public service.
Many of these employees are in their 30's and 40's and have mortgages and children to see about. They are not in an easy position to be starting new careers. Many of these men and women are under a lot of stress because of the uncertainty of their future.
So Miss Karen, you firing
So Miss Karen, you firing 2,700 workers but boasting about creating 1,600 jobs?
I eh too bright, but this eh adding up.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161594326
http://dsaltsman.blogspot.com/
THANKS TO OUR MEDIA
THANKS TO OUR MEDIA -
Who helped elect the PNM for superior moral and spiritual values we the people are reaping the whirlwind. Crime five times worst corruption ten times worst. Yuh see any moral and spiritual values yet. I wonder what is the next con job they will come up with to send the fools further.
...given the mentality and
...given the mentality and lack of credibility of this lady, all this simply is union busting and an opportunity to appoint friends and family to key positions....