We're making progress - Phillips - Finance minister upbeat as ...

?Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips is expressing confidence that the overseas assistance to boost revenue intake in the Government's coffers should place him in good stead in the 2013-2014 financial year.

"There has been real improvement, I believe, (there is) more to be done. It is not an instantaneous transformation as it requires a steady approach, but yes, we are seeing improvements, and we expect to see more this year and beyond," Phillips told The Gleaner yesterday ahead of his opening presentation in the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives today.

Added Phillips: "We have assistance from our bilateral partners such as the United States Agency for International Development."

He revealed that support has also come from the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at modernising the tax authorities generally. "These include our capacity to do audits as well as our administrative arrangements," said Phillips.

EYES ON TAXES

But even as Phillips painstakingly prepares for his second presentation on the threshold of the signing of a hard-fought deal with the IMF, the failure of successive administrations to snare seasoned tax dodgers, despite repeated vows by his predecessors to net the evaders, has again been brought into sharp focus.

Business leaders told The Gleaner earlier this week that they were not expecting a large tax package, but the focus remained on the Government's ability to collect much-needed revenues.

"There are focused areas to enhance the investigative as well as the audit capacity and capability ? ," he said.

Added Phillips: "We are extending this activity to include other areas of revenue leakage in Customs and we expect to see a strengthening overall of our capacities in this respect, in relation to Customs modernisation and Tax Administration Jamaica and the Financial Investigations Division, all working in tandem."

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Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130418/lead/lead2.html

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