consolidated all its operations in one location

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–    Authority working on enhancing efficiency In October last, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) consolidated all its operations in one location, at its new head office in Camp Street. This new location accommodates the Customs and Trade Administration, Licence Revenue Division, the Value Added Tax and Income Tax Divisions, the Human Resources and Finance Division and the GRA Secretariat.Yesterday, the Commissioner General of the GRA – Khurshid SattaurThe new Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) building on Camp Street, Georgetown.and several department heads gave the media a tour of the ground floor of the new facility where most of the services are accessed by customers.Sattaur explained that the tour is to give a view of how the GRA serves the Guyanese public on a daily basis.“We have done a lot of things to speed up the time it takes to do business here…everything is now happening at this location quite apart from what it used to be six months ago when you had to visit about five locations to have services rendered to you,” he said.He acknowledged that with the offering of all the services at one location there would be congestion, which is due to the agency’s employees totalling 700 and the number of people who approach it for services. He noted that on a normal day the GRA is visited by over 2,000 people and that amount doubles when deadlines for tax submissions are close.“We are proud of what we have achieved, and we want the Guyanese public to know that we have done this mainly because we have you at heart,” Sattaur emphasised.He indicated that the GRA has been receiving some negative publicity in the news/daily publications despite the efforts to better its services.“We are very saddened by all of this,” he said. Sattaur expressed that from the very beginning critics said that moving would not work, nevertheless the GRA, today, is doing more business than before.He acknowledged that parking for customers is still an issue, but GRA is working to address it. Thus far there are two designated parking lots for staff, and customers can also park along the roadside.Customers accessing services at the facility.Karen Chapman-Deputy Head of the Customs and Trade Administration, Gavin Low – Senior Manager, Tax Exemption, Mellissa Romeo- Manager, Compliance and Liability and Wayne Austin- Senior Manager, Licence and Motor Vehicle Registration gave explanations for the services offered and procedures of their respective departments. (GINA)