Monrovia, Liberia – The installation of a new smart revenue monitoring system created by international technology company N-Soft has been announced by the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA). Without raising taxes on Liberians, the Operator Revenue Auditing System (ORAS) platform, which was put in place on May 15 and is prepared for launch, intends to greatly improve revenue collection in high-revenue industries.
The platform, which will formally launch in the upcoming weeks, is expected to improve the precision and effectiveness of tax collection in a number of vital industries, most notably the gambling, telecoms, and mobile money sectors.
In a statement, LRA Commissioner General James Dorbor Jallah emphasized that the partnership with N-Soft is a component of a larger plan to increase the efficiency and transparency of domestic tax collection.
“This partnership is about working smart and fair. Through this new system, we can unlock revenue previously hidden, with real-time data from key sectors of the digital economy starting from telecommunications, mobile money, and gaming sectors. We will get new revenue stream without placing any burden on taxpayers–collect the true amount of taxes that consumers paid,” said CG. Jallah.
In order to enable the government to make investments in infrastructure and vital public services that would revolutionize Liberia, he stated that the objective is to raise revenue to and beyond the billion dollar threshold in the upcoming years.
With the use of the ORAS, the LRA may identify and record transactions that were previously unreported or underreported, especially those involving commissions and fees for mobile money, scratch card sales, top-up activation, service consumption, and gaming activities. Additionally, it adheres to global best practices and supports strong data security requirements.
LRA’s Assistant Commissioner for the Management Information Systems Division (MISD), Mr. Kollie U. Zayzay, stated that the system will primarily increase the accuracy of Goods and Services Tax (GST) reporting by processing transactional data in real-time and automatically.
“With this platform, the LRA can now effectively trace and track transactions involving mobile money, top up, game results, and service consumption, and certify the data to uncover hidden revenue streams,” said Mr. Zayzay. “This technology will help the LRA close tax gaps and enhance compliance, especially in sectors that have historically lacked the needed transparency due to the huge volume of data generated.”
According to Zayzay, the LRA IT team has put strong security measures in place to safeguard taxpayer privacy and guarantee system integrity, in line with international standards as evidenced by N-Soft’s information security and quality management certifications.
The N-Soft approach concentrates on more efficiently and automatically gathering current income in real time, as opposed to typical revenue-enhancing tactics that entail tax increases. Because ORAS is ETL-C based (Extract, Transform, Load-Certify), it makes it possible to accurately and efficiently extract, process, and certify critical data. By dividing the tax burden among the real economic activities that generate money, it guarantees a more equitable tax structure.
Roger Zini, chairman of N-Soft, conveyed the company’s excitement for the collaboration. “We are proud to partner with the Government of Liberia to strengthen national revenue performance. Liberia stands at the forefront of the fight for open and accountable governance. N-SOFT is committed to delivering the most advanced and reliable solutions to support the country’s strategy for multi-sector transparency.”
Zini went on to say that he is certain this platform would significantly assist Liberia and mark a significant turning point in its digital transformation since he has successfully aided revenue development in a number of African nations.
N-Soft, a top revenue mobilization service provider, and the Liberian government struck a formal agreement in early February to increase Liberia’s revenue collection in the mobile money, gaming, and telecommunications industries.
A significant step toward improving revenue transparency and accountability was taken with the signing of the agreement by the LRA, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and the National Investment Commission.
The ORAS technology would enable more efficient tax administration and support Liberia’s long-term economic growth by offering real-time control of formerly unmonitored industries.
