In line with the Education/Communication Strategy of educating people about tax compliance as early as from school days, the Taxpayer Education and Communication Department invited 28 Upper VI students from the Royal College of Port Louis, under the aegis of the Careers Guidance Service of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, for a guided tour at the MRA Headquarters.

Under the supervision of Mr J.K. Bheenick, the Education Officer of RCPL, the students were very interactive to the presentation given by Mr T.Moorghen, Officer in Charge of the TECD, and this helped in assessing the perception prospective taxpayers have of the MRA. Questions asked by the students were mainly relative to tax principles they are theoretically taught in their curriculum and how the MRA in its day to day running is adhering to these fundamental principles. The students were very alert and were interested to the explanation given by the Mr L. Thanay , Team Leader at TECD  and the students were able to bring a  parallel with their theoretical analysis of taxation and how the taxation system is actually implemented at MRA.

As earlier promulgated in its Communication Strategy, the TECD intends to organise many other guided visits to other Educational Institutions as well as on- site visits of the TECD to colleges, universities and private educational institutions so as to better disseminate information on taxes. Invitations to those institutions interested has been sent through the Careers Guidance Service Division of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources.      

The MRA organised a half day educational session on various tax issues on 27 February 2009, MRA Training Room, 8^th Floor, Ehram Court, Cnr Sir Virgil Naz & Mge Gonin streets, Port Louis. Eleven HR & Finance Staff from SICOM attended the session.

 

Education Session - SICOM

This session provided an overview of corporate tax and Advance Payment System (APS) whilst imparting specific knowledge on PAYE, Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) and e-filing in the context of SICOM. The aim of this session is to empower SICOM staff with the necessary taxation skills so that they can apply them in their organisation for the purpose of PAYE and other taxes, thereby being cost effective and efficient.

 The MRA has been very much involved in the organisation of various educational sessions to several entities namely Barclays bank, Cooperative Societies, MEXA and MEF amongst others. We endeavour to continue in that direction and warmly welcome initiatives from companies or other entities with specific training needs.

 

Educating students of the Muslim Girls College on Income Tax

One officer of the MRA, Mrs Reshma Dobir was invited by the Rector of the Muslim Girls College to talk to HSC Students on Income Tax on the 20^th February 2009 at 11.30 a.m. The session lasted for more than 45 minutes and the students asked many questions at the end of the session. They were glad to learn more on a topic that would help them better understand theoretical principles. The explanations were focused on personal taxation system and the following topics were discussed:

1. The purpose of imposing tax on income.

2. Introduction to tax legislation (Income Tax Act 1995).

3. Persons liable to income tax.

4. PAYE for employees.

5. The Current Payment System for business, profession, rent …

6. The different types of annual returns and due date to submit them.

7. Penalties for non-submission of returns.

MRA welcomes such initiatives and is always glad to organise briefing sessions and educational seminars for its stakeholders.