(MENAFN- The Post) The Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) Commissioner General 'Mathabo Mokoko says it grew revenue collection by 12.5 percent from the previous financial year.
Mokoko said despite having missed their target for the 2023/24 financial year by 9.3 percent, they were able to remit to the government M8.87 billion against a set target of M9.78 billion.
She was speaking during a press briefing that was held at the RSL offices yesterday.
Mokoko said the reasons for the failure to meet the target was because they have been operating in an environment that has“by far been one of the most challenging years”.
She said despite the challenges, the RSL had succeeded in growing its tax collections by 12.5 percent.
Mokoko said there had been an increase in“good compliance behaviour” by taxpayers, with more people registering for tax.
“We also saw more people filing their tax returns and making payments on those returns and making payments on time,” she said.
The RSL boss however said they are still concerned by non-compliance by certain sectors.
“We have come to see some isolated incidents of some taxpayers deliberately devising schemes to evade taxes and defraud the government of Lesotho of its revenue,” she said.
She said others“under declare their income or turnover”.
“Some do make debt payment arrangements only to dishonour those arrangements. We still come across a few who lodge endless appeals, hoping that this would help them delay the payment of taxes due when they are due.”
She said non-compliance robs Lesotho of its ability to provide for its citizens.
“Tax evasion denies the government of Lesotho to build much needed infrastructure, provide medicine at hospitals, provide better pensions for the elderly, send more students to universities and to create jobs for the youth,” she said.
She also spoke about the key highlights for the 2023/24 financial year which include an increase in revenue collections.
The organisation registered almost 1 000 more taxpayers, mostly in agriculture, retail, and the construction sector.
She said they re-engaged SARS under the VAT Mutual Assistance Agreements and the VAT refund Memorandum of Understanding to improve on the efficiencies of the VAT refund system.
She said they also simplified refund process through use of technology and adoption of single declaration between Lesotho and South Africa.
The interventions that have been implemented are taking the staff out of the depression curve caused by many issues that were not properly dealt with over the years, she said.
Moipone Makhoalinyane
MENAFN17042024000229011070ID1108107087
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.