Taxpayers' satisfaction to be gauged

The National Board of Revenue plans to survey taxpayers' level of satisfaction with the services provided by tax officials.

The survey will cover 1,000 firms: 70 percent of them pay tax based on their financial accounts and 30 percent pay tax based on turnover, according to the NBR.

"We will be able to know the extent of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of taxpayers through the survey," said a senior official of NBR.

The tax administrator has launched a tender to hire a company to do the survey by July next year, when the NBR will also start implementing the new VAT and Supplementary Duty Act.

The NBR aims to implement the new law by modernising the VAT administration, restructuring the VAT wing and functional lines and automating the VAT system.

The implementation of the new VAT regime will lower administrative and compliance costs, the NBR said on its website.

“In order to monitor and assess the impact of the programme in taxpayer satisfaction, it is necessary to establish a baseline under the current VAT system, against which progress between current and new VAT systems could be measured," the NBR said.

The new VAT system, if properly implemented and effectively administered, has the potential to increase the VAT tax yield, broaden the tax base and contribute towards establishment of a modern and service-oriented VAT administration.