Concerns have been raised by various petty traders and vendors alleging that GRA collects rates and duties on a daily basis from them at various markets but does not plough back to address their plights.
However, Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe clarified those comments, saying many don’t understand the role of GRA and that of the municipalities and area councils.
According to him, their system of collection and the council is completely different. He said that most of those women who are complaining are referring to the municipalities and councils and not GRA. “Our collection is mostly based on system in terms of sitting at the office trying to do assessment based on files, and people come and pay and if we have doubt on what someone pays, we have what we called Tax Audit by selecting businesses and audit them to verify what they are paying.”
The Commissioner General further made it clear that GRA is only responsible for collecting revenue for government and save it at the Central Bank of The Gambia.
He stated that the revenue collected is determined by government. “We account for every single butut that we collect from businesses.”
He assured that GRA will keep using the media as a tool to enlighten the general public more on the role of GRA and that of the municipalities and area councils across the country.
