Exploring the Implementation and Benefit of Digital Reforms in Tax Administration: National Revenue Authority (NRA) Sierra Leone

Most Tax administrations around the world have now resorted to digitalization in tax administration due to continuous technological innovation, business change, and the need to improve services, optimize operational efficiency and increase tax compliance and revenue collections. Digitalizing tax administration is creating changes in the way tax is administered and taxpayers’ compliance with the NRA. It is important to embrace the opportunities of reforming tax administration through digitalization even though there will be institutional and budgetary challenges that will need to be overcome; its benefits are enormous and continuous. Tax administration will lose their core objective of remaining an efficient and effective source of generating government revenue if they do not follow the trend of digitalization. This study explores digitalization as reforming tax administrations and the benefits therein. Its focuses on the NRA administration, processes, and procedures and the implementation of digitalization as a way to improve efficacy and efficiency in tax administrations. This study will use the exploratory, qualitative and ex-facto design and data collection will be done through the Monitoring and Research (MRP) Department within the NRA, secondary sources such as literature from contemporary studies, and the internet. This paper reviews how the NRA was able to implement three digital reforms namely, the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS), the Electronic Cash Register (ECR), and the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA World) that boost compliance on wider coverage and revenue performance to meet the much-needed government expenditures. With the introduction of these reforms, the government through the NRA has been able to mitigate tax avoidance and evasion, making tax administration simple and easy with taxpayers able to file tax returns anywhere anytime with more efficient and effective administrative processes and procedures and an increase in government revenue is evident. It is recommended that the tax administration must make a tremendous effort to reach a wider social and political consensus and also acknowledge the political feasibility of future reforms as a precondition for successful implementation.