By: Kebba AF Touray
The Commissioner General of The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) Yankuba Darboe, told the gathering at this year’s third Edition of the GRA Taxpayer Award Ceremony, that the country’s tax authority has registered D9.13 billion in 2018, representing D1.08 billion or 13 percent above the set revenue target of D8.05 billion.
Darboe made these remarks on Friday January 25th 2019, on the occasion of the third Edition of the GRA Taxpayers’ Award Ceremony, a day set aside to recognize and thank the valuable customers of the Revenue Authority, for their continued compliance with the country’s revenue laws, given the central role they play in financing Government’s development agenda. Darboe said the GRA revenue performance of 2018, represented a nominal revenue growth of D1.16 billion or 15 percent compared to the 2017 revenue collection of D7.97 billion; that this was made possible due to the compliance of ‘our esteem taxpayers.’
Darboe further disclosed that presently, the GRA accounts for 70 percent of Government’s recurrent expenses and that the annual revenue growth since the advent of GRA from 2007 to date, stands at 10 percent, due mainly to the collaboration, partnership and continued commitment of taxpayers.
“The payment of tax by the citizenry is an exchange on their part for the provision and enjoyment of basic facilities that make life comfortable and bearable for everyone. Compliance with tax laws is a repetition of the undertaking of the citizenry under the social contract to pay their own fair share of taxes,” he said; that if the country is to develop to a nation that the citizenry aspires, then the fulfilment of their tax obligations to engineer the socio-economic development of the country becomes incumbent on them.
“We will remain even more vigilant against deliberate non-compliance through fraud, negligence and avoidance techniques. Thus, I would implore on all to continue to be good taxpayers, as tax payment is indeed noble and divine,” he concludes.
