Several new proposals have been tabled by the Committee on Public Accounts to make the work of the Inland Revenue Department more efficient.
The proposals were put forth for the proper implementation of the Revenue Administration Management Information System (RAMIS), which is a major computer system established for tax revenue collection in the Inland Revenue Department.
The matter was discussed when the Committee on Public Accounts met in Parliament yesterday (24) under the chairmanship of MP Kabir Hashim.
The COPA said the Inland Revenue Department under the Ministry of Finance initiated the software system called RAMIS in 2014 to increase efficiency of its tax revenue collection by investing Rs.10 billion and information has been received that it is not functioning properly.
The Chairman said he believes that more money has already been spent to strengthen the system and emphasised that it is necessary to determined whether spending money further is effective.
The Auditor General said the Inland Revenue Department does not provide him information of the service agreement and relevant payment details related to the system.
He further said the Inland Revenue Department refuses to provide particular information to the Auditor General according to the agreement, and that it is against the constitution.
The Inland Revenue officials stated that there is a need to update the software system adding that there are issues in giving out the contractual information, according to the agreement with the Singaporean company that created the software.
They stated that due to the agreement being between two governments, the intervention of the government will be appropriate for future activities.
As there are issues in the RAMIS system, including procurement, COPA proposed to form two subcommittees to investigate the possibility of bringing the system to an operational level.
The committee will be established jointly by the Attorney General’s Department under the leadership of the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance that will examine legal conditions related to the RAMIS Agreement.
The committee will include members of the University of Moratuwa, the Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), the Inland Revenue Department, and the Ministry of Finance to look into the possibility of updating the software.
A decision was reached to submit the reports containing the conclusion on the relevant matters to COPA within six weeks.
