The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) has today hosted a familiarization session with a group of newly registered taxpayers including those who aim to venture into a business activity in the near future.
The informative session held at the Seychelles Trading Centre (STC) conference room, was facilitated by staff members from both the tax and customs division, who provided ample information about the rights and obligations of taxpayers including the processes and procedures to be followed when interacting with each division respectively.
Attended by over 45 taxpayers, the session which forms part of SRC’s awareness campaign, to educate businesses on the Seychelles tax system, aims to reduce the complexities and difficulties in understanding tax obligations which may lead to unintentional errors on the part of taxpayers.
To ensure that through shared knowledge taxpayers becomes aware of their rights including that of the commission, to boost compliance, the session also provided those present the opportunity to share their concerns, suggestions by asking questions to the team of dedicated officers on site.
A wide range of topics was covered at the session such as, the types of taxes administered by SRC, obligations of employees and employers towards income tax, the rights businesses are granted under the tax laws, the role and services provided by SRC, penalties, objection and appeal procedures, the customs laws, procedures, mandate, the process for importation and at the passenger terminal as well the necessary documentation required when transacting with the Commission amongst others.
Speaking about the outcome of the two-and-a-half-hour session the Director for Taxpayer Education and Service Delivery, Ms. Sheryl Barra, said: “This is the second year that we host such session for newly registered taxpayers, we are indeed please with the turnout. It is within the Commission’s strategy to provide increased education about tax and customs laws and procedures, to foster a culture of compliance within our taxpayers.
“We have also through our internal processes and through audits conducted identified that due to the complexities in understanding the applications of tax and customs laws in place in some instances taxpayers have failed to fulfil their tax obligations timely. Thus the workshop today has enabled us SRC to provide more clarity about our services, processes and procedures, changes in laws and new taxes implemented amidst others as we continue our quest to build an engaging tax culture in Seychelles.”
The SRC also provides customized sessions to organizations willing to learn more about SRC’s tax and customs services, procedures, laws and its applications. To request for a dedicated session businesses are invited to email to tesd@src.gov.sc or by phoning 4294934 /293410 / 4294909 during working hours.