August 2010
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Launching of MRA office in Rodrigues
On 30 August 2010, the Mauritius Revenue Authority officially launched an MRA office in Rodrigues. The objective is to extend the services offered in Rodrigues and include Income Tax and VAT facilities to taxpayers. The MRA being essentially a service organisation, the organisation made it a point to offer the same array of services offered in Mauritius to taxpayers in Rodrigues. In order to achieve its objective, the MRA staff in Rodrigues has been trained to deliver efficient and quality services to all stakeholders. The Hon. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, officially launched the new office situated in Cliderlex Complex, Port Maturin, in the presence of the Hon. Louis Joseph Von-Mally, GOSK, Minister of Fisheries and Rodrigues and Mr. Johnson Roussety, GOSK, Chief Commissioner of Rodrigues, Mr. V Hassamal, Chairperson MRA Board, Mr. S Lal, Director General, MRA , Mr. S Mendes, Director of Customs Department, Mr. T Moorghen, Acting Director of Taxpayer Education and Communication Department and other emminent personalities.
Click here to view moments of the Launching ceremony
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Visit of Mr. Z. Kaleem, Executive Director of CATA
Mr. Zahir Kaleem, Executive Director of Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) visited the MRA from 23rd to 24th August 2010. He had a meeting with the Management team of MRA on 23 August 2010 where the Mr. S Lal, Director General of MRA made a presentation on the achievements of the MRA since its inception in July 2006. Mr. M Mosafeer, the Director of Large Taxpayer Department also illustrated, through a presentation, the relationship between Mauritius and CATA and various conferences and workshops held in Mauritius. Mr. Z Kaleem accompanied by the Mr. S Lal, Director General, MRA and Mr. T Moorghen, Acting Director of Taxpayer Education and Communication Department paid a courtesy call to Hon. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development on 24 August 2010.
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Visit of Burundi Delegation
17 senior officials from the Ministry of Good Governance in Burundi visited Mauritius from 16 to 20 August 2010 to learn about Mauritius' strategies - economic, political and social. On 16th August, the delegation had a meeting with the Director General, MRA and the Directors of Compliance Departments. The delegation aimed to understand the tax reforms implemented in Mauritius, its successes, challenges, and the way forward.
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Delegation from Seychelles Revenue Commission
A delegation from the Seychelles Revenue Commission comprising of five senior Officers including Director General Policy and Strategy Division of the Ministry of Finance visited MRA from 16 to 20 August 2010 on a fact finding mission on the VAT System in Mauritius. On 16th of August, Mr. Sudhamo Lal, Director General, MRA made a presentation on Tax System in Mauritius and Mrs. Gunnoo, Director of Fiscal Investigations Department made a presentation on VAT Systems in Mauritius. The delegation visited the Registration Unit of Operational Services Department, VAT Audit of the Medium and Small Taxpayer Department and the Collection at the SSR Airport.The delegation also attended a presentation made at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
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Visit of Officials from Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority
A delegation comprising officials from the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA) had an official visit at the MRA headquarters, Ehram Court on 16 August 2010. The delegation comprised of Mr Phiwayinkosi Ginidza – Chief Executive Officer, Mr Zizwe Vilane- Director Foreign Direct Investments, Mr Muzikayise Dube – Director Research and Policy. Through this visit, the delegation aimed to better understand the measures adopted in improving the investment climate and facilitating the ease of doing business in Mauritius.SIPA is wholly funded by Government of Swaziland with initial assistance from the European Union.
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SADC Enforcement Workshop
MRA hosted the SADC Customs Enforcement Workshop which was held from 19 to 20 August 2010 at La Plantation Hotel, Balaclava. The workshop, wholly funded by SADC Secretariat, was attended by representatives from WCO, EAC, Interpol and Customs administrations of all SADC Member States except Madagascar.
The purpose of the workshop was to design and implement a regional Customs cooperation action plan to collectively improve Customs enforcement and risk management. Delegates from the different SADC Customs Administrations interacted with relevant international and regional organizations and shared expertise. The delegates were required to:
- develop a practical common Customs risk matrix which covers the current risks facing SADC countries
- develop and adopt a revised regional Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement;
- share best practices on risk management; and
- Establish task teams to address issues of critical risks to the region particularly those affecting a number of counties, for example cigarette smuggling.
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NCEN Training
Training on NCEN was conducted at the New Customs House on a five-day session from 16 to 20 August 2010. The course was provided by two WCO resource persons, namely Mrs. Anette Bonde, Senior Technical Officer and Mr. Giorgio Sincovich, Technical Attaché. The nCEN Training Seminar was launched on Monday 16 August 2010 with an opening ceremony in which were present all participants, the two WCO experts, Section Heads of the Customs Department as well as the Acting Director of Customs and the Director of Training and Human Resources Department. The training was scheduled in two sessions whereby the first two days were programmed for IT administrators while the remaining three days for prospective trainers. The first session, "IT Experts Training", which involved the participation of four officers from the IT Section of the Customs Department, consisted mainly of managing the NCEN application. The second session, "Train the Trainers", in which 18 participants from the Customs Department were involved, consisted mainly of using the nCEN application, with special focus on the "seizure" and "suspicion" databases.
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Visit of Zimbabwe Delegation
On Tuesday 24th August 2010, a delegation comprising high level officials from Zimbabwe, including the Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion visited the MRA. The purpose of this visit was to learn from the best practices as to how they can improve the doing business environment in their country.
