High level of pressure is developing between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Central Tender Review Committee of the Ministry of Finance (CTRC) over the former’s choice of hiring a firm that experts believe is insufficiently qualified to oversee the implementation of an Integrated Tax Application System (ITAS) project.
Whereas the GRA is set to appoint and announce IPMC partnering TATA consulting services as the preferred company to oversee ITAS implementation, CTRC, a body mandated by the Government to advice on the award of contracts has raised queries and objected to that decision.
Due to TATA’s performance against the other 11 selected bidders and its alleged lack of experience and delivery capabilities, CTRC is believed to have raised red flags.
This website has learned that after the GRA filed its evaluation report on why it chose IPMC partner TATA Consulting Services to put out ITAS, a conversation between the two entries and issues presented by CTRC followed.
According to insiders with knowledge of the ITAS deal, CTRC has given GRA advice and made a few crucial recommendations that it expects the Authority to implement in order to guarantee that the right, qualified, and competent company is chosen and awarded the ITAS contract.
What ITAS will do for GRA
The ITAS project is part of the effort being put in place by the GRA to help the Authority achieve its goals on revenue generation.
ITAS is intended to help the GRA identify and block all the tax loopholes within the government and the public administration as part of the GRA’s primary goal to increase revenue generation.
Per ITAS project, the system will help to capture a wider tax bracket and make it extremely impossible for anybody or company to escape the tax system, by fishing out any organisation or individuals that may attempt to evade taxes.
A total of 12 shortlisted companies were shortlisted but CTRC after reviewing the evaluation report submitted to the Committee by GRA raised concerns about unfairness in the selection process.
The CTRC evaluation report it submitted to GRA stated that the Bidders were not given an equal playing field to compete for the ITAS contract.
According to sources, the Committee also questioned GRA’s determination to give the ITAS contract to a firm that scored four out of 10 for the Authority’s major and most important condition, which focused on experience and capacity to execute.
