GRA should have published its annual report on website

Dear Editor,
I refer to Mr Geoffrey Statia, the Commissioner General (CG) of GRA, responding to my letter captioned ‘Why has the GRA’s Annual Report for 2015 not been laid in Parliament?’
While I welcome the steps he has outlined and his commitment to correct the inherent malfunction in meeting its fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers, we must recognize that the Revenue Statement is not the published Annual Report. So the fact remains that the 2015 Annual Report of the GRA is still incomplete. So what next, Mr Statia?
From Mr Statia’s discourse, it now begs the question: How can the public read the 2016 Annual Report of the Bank of Guyana (BoG) since April 2017, but cannot read the same for the GRA? Only the 2014 Annual Report of the GRA is complete? Isn’t GRA, according to Article 9 of the Revenue Authority Act, (1996), an independent body corporate similar to the BoG? And does it not have the power to trigger its own audit and its own annual report?
Even if the GRA is dependent on the Audit Office to complete the laying of its report in Parliament, there is nothing stopping Mr Statia and the GRA from following the culture of public accountability that exists at the Central Bank. The GRA is struggling to adhere to the basics when it comes to transparency and accountability. I am hoping the Minister of Finance — especially Minister Jaipaul Sharma, who is known to be a stickler for following the law — would have a word with the GRA, so that entity can get into financial shape.
This is an easy fix; like the Bank of Guyana, GRA should have the ability to publish its annual report on its website. The rule of law provides for it; the Guyanese taxpayers would welcome it; and therefore the only missing link is whether, at the very top of the GRA, there is a firm commitment to transparency, financial accountability and following the rule of law.

Regards,
Sase Singh