The Warrap State Revenue Authority (SRA) on Monday announced that it has collected SSP 161,843,288 and USD 161,000 in revenue and Personal Income Tax (PIT) from nationals working for NGOs in the last four months.
Addressing the journalists at his office in Kuajok, Ngor Dhuol Mangong, the Warrap State Revenue Authority Commissioner General, said that they managed to make the impressive revenue collection amid challenges.
“The comprehensive report for revenue collection for the last four months is encouraging and we have collected SSP 161,843,288 and USD 161,000. That is what we collected from February, March, April, and May 2023,” he said.
“In February, we collected SSP 35,258,375. In March, SSP 31,378,973, in April, SSP 26,723,550 and in May, the collection was SSP 35,482,390.”
Dhuol, however, said some counties have not been cooperating with revenue collectors and that it presents a challenge.
“Some counties like Tonj North, Tonj East, and Kuajok Municipal Council were not cooperating with the State Revenue Authority in remitting 40 percent of revenues collected,” he said. “We do not have financial form 15 for the collection, so we use duplicated paper for collection but we make it authentic by letting national security, ministry of finance, and audit chamber sign it.”
Meanwhile, Deng Makuec, the deputy speaker of the Warrap State parliament, commended the state’s revenue collection body for being accountable and transparent.
“You have been focusing on the challenges and our role as parliament is very clear and that is the passing of laws like Taxation Bill and overseeing how the executive spends money,” he said. “So, your announcement is very great and this is how we want accountability and transparency of public funds because any collection like this is aimed to return as services to communities.”
For her part, Awut Daniella Valentino, the chairperson of the Warrap State Audit Chamber, said the duplicate receipts used for collecting revenues are authentic.
“I am proud and happy about the amount of money announced here, it is huge. If it was not for his hard work and honesty, we would not have realized these figures. There are two points that I want to clarify. It is the responsibility of my office to deliver form 15 to collection agencies like the revenue authority and the municipal council but it has been difficult for my office to bring them (form 15) because these forms have to come from Kenya, but it is a general problem in the country.” she said.
Awut insisted that the duplicate forms that were rejected by some counties are authentic because her office recognized them and urged the public not to decline to pay government dues.
Tonj North County Commissioner Layok Malueth said he was not aware of any challenges faced by State Revenue Authority staff in collecting dues in his county.
“This one is not our problem and it may be the problem of the revenue collection agents,” he said. “When I was appointed as commissioner of Tonj North County, I talked with the commissioner general of the revenue authority, and his staff was distributed to all auctions and markets in the county. If there is a proper financial report, it should be between him and his staff.”