Africa-Press – Lesotho. SENATOR Seabata Motsamai says the reinstated Tax Administration Bill 2022 will align the administration of tax laws in Lesotho to ensure efficiency. Motsamai was speaking in the Senate on Tuesday on the Bill which could not be passed in the last parliament when it was dissolved.
He said his presentation followed the gathering of opinions from stakeholders such as the Private Sector Foundation of Lesotho (PSFL), Public Transport Lesotho, and the Lesotho Chamber of Mines.
“Due to instability of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) the Revenue Service Lesotho (RSL) has been forced to improve domestic revenue mobilisation,” Motsamai said.
The Senator said the Bill is a new piece of legislation that is designed to create a unified body of law outlining common procedures, rights and remedies by aligning the administration of tax laws as much as possible.
“The purpose of the Bill is also to achieve a balance between the rights and responsibilities of both the RSL and the taxpayers in a transparent relationship,” he said.
He said the Bill will seek to prescribe the rights and responsibilities of the RSL officers, to prescribe remedies for the taxpayers and RSL officers in accordance with the aims and purposes of tax administration.
Motsamai said the Bill is intended to create the basis for further modernisation of the administration of the tax laws in order to fill certain identified gaps such as introducing a framework for the joined registration of a taxpayer for all types of taxes.
The Bill is also meant to create a framework for supporting the modernisation of the accounting system of the RSL. Based on all observations made by the stakeholders involved, the Committee recommended that further stakeholders’ engagement is needed, particularly on compliance issues and penalties for non-compliance.
Motsamai said the committee recommended that the Bill be deferred to allow the RSL to engage with stakeholders. He said the basis for the committee’s recommendations on this Bill was the failure by the RSL to consult stakeholders during the development process of the Bill which needed to be addressed.
Senator Seabata Motsamai said the dissolution of the 10th parliament last year meant that all pending businesses in the House were dissolved. Motsamai said the House resolved to reinstate the Bill on March 9 this year.
The Bill was referred to the Legislation Committee for review. Motsamai said the Committee met on March 23 where it invited the Ministry of Finance and Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) to brief it on the basis and intentions of the Bill.
He said this was done in order to fulfil Standing Order 90(3) which stipulates that the legislation committee may call for papers and hear oral evidence, which may, by resolutions of the Committee be recorded and transcribed.
Motsamai is the chairman of the Senate’s Legislation Committee. The committee has powers to consult and liaise with government ministries and departments to ensure attendance of any person at a meeting of the committee in terms of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act of 1994.
Motsamai said on March 28 the committee managed to invite interested parties to a consultation meeting where they were given an opportunity to present their views on the Bill.
“The committee analysed the stakeholders’ opinions and observations,” Motsamai said. He said the committee came up with its own observations and recommendations which it will convey to the House during the Bill’s discussion.
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