TAJ To Operate At World Standard With Implementation Of RAiS

Implementation of the Revenue Administration Information System (RAiS) will position Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) to operate at international standard.

The RAiS is used by TAJ to better communicate with its customers and boost the efficiency of the agency’s operation.

Commissioner General at the TAJ, Ainsley Powell, told JIS News recently at a ‘Think Tank’ that there are many countries that require 100 per cent e-filing and TAJ is moving in that direction.

“We are rolling out the newest system in the Caribbean ranked as ideal for what is considered good practice for tax administration. The idea is to move away from a heavy face-to-face interaction with customers to a more online type relationship,” he said.

This, Mr. Powell explained, will reduce lines, processing time for some services, and allow persons to conduct their transactions on their own time from anywhere. “RAiS puts us right there with the rest of the world,” he said.

Currently, TAJ offers most of its services through RAiS, including Tax Compliant Letter (instead of a certificate), all major tax types and Tax Registration Number (TRN).

Mr. Powell said that TAJ is exploring the possibility of including stamp duty, withholding taxes, environmental levy, betting and gaming, transfer tax as well as trade licence through RAiS.

In addition to improving customer service, the TAJ Commissioner General told JIS News that his team is working to improve the compliance rate through the analysis of third party information using the ‘discovery’ in RAiS.

“This will allow us to look at the taxpayer and decide on which action to take [regarding compliance],” Mr. Powell said.

The implementation of RAiS is strategically aligned with TAJ’s National Compliance Plan, which outlines its compliance approach in collecting taxation revenue for the Government and people of Jamaica and improving voluntary tax compliance.

The RAiS project began in May 2014 with phase one being implemented in February, and phase two on December 7. It is expected that the project will be fully implemented by June 2016.

TAJ has partnered with e-Gov Jamaica and United States-based FAST Enterprises Limited, which provides software and information technology consulting services for Government agencies to execute the project.

RAiS is one of several projects being undertaken in Government agencies aimed at making Jamaica the place of choice to do business by 2030.