SARA Expansion Promises Efficiency, Not Spending Power

Come December, the Belize Tax Service is expected to grow by about forty percent in staff, as it transitions into the new Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authority. But with more people on the payroll, naturally, questions are popping up: How will this expansion be funded? And will it really deliver better results? Director Michelle Longsworth says yes. She believes the new system will streamline operations and boost performance across the board. But it’s not just about efficiency, there are also concerns about transparency. Some are worried that SARA could open the door to shady spending through government-awarded contracts. Longsworth is challenging that narrative. She says all revenue collected will still go straight into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, meaning SARA won’t have the power to spend taxpayers’ money. And just to be clear, she adds, SARA won’t be a private company. It’ll remain under public scrutiny, just like any other government body.

 

On the Phone: Michelle Longsworth, Director General, Belize Tax Service Department

“I tend to disagree with that. When you, in any organization, in any business, when you plan, you have to plan for a future. You have to be prepared for the future. Having a new organizational structure or a governance structure, we have to take into consideration things that presently as a department we do not have in place, and we have to ensure that it is in place so that we can properly govern. It does not necessarily mean that immediately on the transition, you’ll hire all these extra people. Does not necessarily mean that. It means that you are preparing for future changes in your tax landscape. The tax administration has to remain agile, and if we are not, if we only prepare for next year. Some change happens the year after and we have to go back to planning then it can be said, we did not plan properly, so we have to prepare un plan projecting on how the tax landscape is evolving. That is a responsible way to move forward. If you look at any business, even government as a whole, you have to plan for these things. And if you don’t plan, then you plan to fail. I don’t know with regards to the contracts that are there, I cannot speak to that, but I don’t understand how, in terms of, SARA, you’re talking about contracts, which contracts to whom? The SARA will still be responsible to the Ministry of Finance, all the revenue that. We are collecting now, and we will be collecting under the SARA, will remain in the consolidated fund. That does not change. We will have no jurisdiction to spend taxpayers’ money. It goes and it remains in the consolidated revenue fund.”