As the new commissioner of National Revenue Authority, Athian Ding Athian took his new assignment, he vowed to embark on a tax space expansion program aimed at yielding 40 billion South Sudanese Pounds in the coming financial year.
Last week on Friday in a presidential decree read on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), President Salva Kiir sacked the long-serving commissioner of the National Revenue Authority (NRA), Patrick Mugoya and appointed the former minister for finance and planning, Athian Ding Athian, to the head the institution.
Hon. Commissioner General Athian Ding Athian says achieving the target needs much effort and all staff should see it as collective responsibility to meet the target needed.
‘’NRA should embark on rolling out an elaborate tax space programme aimed at yielding 40 billion SSP per month in the coming financial year, we might not achieve it, but we must put our heads up looking at the target.’
In a statement seen by The Radio Community, the outgoing commissioner general Dr.Patrick Kennedy Mugoya says through the non-oil revenue tax, the institution yields a monthly average of SSP 16 billion in FY 2022/23.
‘’In the 33 incredible months of my service, I have enjoyed tremendous support, encouragement and inspiration to deliver as per expectation of the citizenry not only from the Board and the Ministry but also from the wider public, development partners and the political leadership of this great nation resulting into an increase of non-oil revenue from a gross monthly average of SSP 3.9 billion during FY 2020/21 to SSP 6.7 billion in FY 2021/23 and now a monthly average of SSP 16 billion in FY 2022/23’’
He hopes his successor, Hon Athian will be granted the same support as he was given to take NRA to the next level.
Hon.Athian has also vowed to look into empowering the tax division to identify more taxpayers through access to key data bases in both private and public sectors, strengthening compliance and enforcement as well as enhancing electronic systems to bring security and efficiency into tax collection mechanisms.
He adds that the internal payment system in the institution will be digitalized to eliminate loopholes in tendering, procuring and payment process.
Adding to that, Athian says it is necessary that NRA acts on its domestic revenue mobilization strategy to raise the GDP of the oil revenue given the ranging conflict in the neighboring Sudan raising risk of overreliance on oil revenues.
‘’It is our collective responsibility as tax collectors to ensure that taxation becomes the largest source of government revenue playing a key role in financing various sectors including education, health, and infrastructure development’ he advised.
