By Prior Beharry
THE Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) will merge with the Customs and Excise Division (CED) in a smooth transition and form into the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA) .
This according to Minister of Finance Colm Imbert as he made a statement on the TTRA Strategic Plan 2023-2025 in the Lower House on Friday.
He said the TTRA Bill 2021 and the TTRA Act, 2021 was assented to by the President of on December 23, 2021, after being passed in both Houses of Parliament.
He said, “The Act enables the TTRA to function according to its mandate, but through a hybrid system, whereby the Enforcement Division will still be guided by the Public Service Commission.”
Imbert said, “As one revenue collecting agency, there will be several benefits and synergies, including cost efficiencies, data sharing and improved risk mitigation frameworks.”
He said on an overarching level, the TTRA will achieve its strategic objectives and aim to meet its targets through execution of its initiatives over the next three years 2023 to 2025 as follows:
- Year 1 – Integrate and retain;
- Year 2 -Tarnsition; and
- Year 3 – Transform and grow.
Imbert said, “The TTRA’s aim is to retain its tax collection levels in the first year, 2023, followed by a 1% and 3% increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio in years two and three, 2024 and 2025, respectively.”
