Tyndall FINANCIAL SECRETARY Shirley Tyndall has called on revenue agents to redouble their efforts to bring evaders into the tax net and collect outstanding sums owed to the Government.
Speaking on Monday at the opening exercise of the Tax Audit and Revenue Administration Post-Graduate Diploma Programme at the Management Institute for National Development (MIND), Miss Tyndall indicated that special emphasis would be placed on pulling in tax revenues in the new financial year.
"We are going to have to take on board the Budget billions of dollars next financial year in order to pay for the cost of dealing with the financial sector (crisis). Your job and the job of the revenue services will be very important in dealing with that problem, because it is only by taxation, that we can really deal with the debt overhang that we'll be left with after we have dealt with the financial sector," she declared.
According to a release from the Jamaica Information Service, the Financial Secretary also argued that "we can't borrow more, because we'll be getting further in debt ... we have to collect the taxes that are out there."
Miss Tyndall outlined a few "attributes" that would be vital to the trainees in their pursuit of excellence as tax auditors. She urged the trainees to be persons with integrity, adding that this would help to dispel the perception of some taxpayers of "the corrupt tax official". The group was also urged to report all "unusual" activities and "peculiar" situations and to be fair and honest in their dealings.
She said a good tax auditor should be knowledgeable, responsible, dedicated, an effective planner, have good time management skills and be a good team player.
Discussing reforms in the tax system, the Financial Secretary said the process was at an advanced stage of implementation and the "professional performance" of tax auditors would determine its success.
The post-graduate diploma course is the first programme at MIND to be accredited by the University Council of Jamaica. Accreditation status was achieved in 1998.
To date, 360 persons have graduated from the programme which began in 1986.
