Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) has launched a practical program aimed at helping its officers detect tax risks and prevent companies from moving profits out of the country to reduce their tax bills.
The program focuses on transfer pricing, a complex area of taxation involving transactions between companies or businesses that are connected to each other, especially when those transactions cross international borders.
The initiative, supported by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and the World Bank, is designed to move the GRA beyond classroom training and give tax officers practical experience in investigating real cases.
From training to real investigations
GRA Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe said the latest program represents an important new stage in the authority’s efforts to strengthen transfer-pricing enforcement.
“This engagement is not the start of our transfer-pricing work; it is a critical next phase,” Darboe said.
He explained that GRA officers had already received theoretical training and were now being given the opportunity to apply what they had learned to actual tax investigations.
Under the program, officers will learn how to identify businesses that may pose a high tax risk, select cases for investigation, plan audits, and examine complicated transactions involving related companies.
The ultimate goal, Darboe said, is to turn training into practical skills that can help the GRA collect more revenue.
“For a developing country like The Gambia, administrative weaknesses cannot become routes through which legitimate tax revenue is lost,” he said.
He added that improving the GRA’s ability to conduct transfer-pricing audits is important to the government’s efforts to raise more domestic revenue.
What transfer pricing means
Transfer pricing generally refers to the prices charged when companies that are connected to each other trade goods, services, loans, or other assets.
For example, a company operating in The Gambia may be part of a larger international group with another company in a different country. If the two companies do business with each other, the prices they use can affect where profits are recorded and, consequently, where taxes are paid.
Tax authorities therefore examine such transactions to determine whether they reflect genuine market prices.
The concern is that some multinational groups could deliberately set prices or other terms in ways that shift profits from countries where they are earned to jurisdictions where taxes are lower.
The new GRA programme is intended to help tax officers identify and investigate such practices.
Officers to work on real cases
ATAF Transfer Pricing Specialist Betty Ahwera said the latest mission builds on a work plan that began in September and is focused increasingly on practical casework.
She said five of seven planned activities had already been completed, with the current mission covering the sixth. A follow-up mission will address the final activity.
“We are progressing from fundamentals to real, actionable cases,” Ahwera said.
Using a system developed during earlier training, GRA officers will assess companies based on their potential tax risks and select cases that may require transfer-pricing audits.
Ahwera also praised the GRA’s Transfer Pricing Implementation Team, which comprises between 15 and 17 officers, for its commitment and rapid progress.
‘Follow the money’
ATAF specialist Robert Luvuuma said effective transfer-pricing enforcement requires more than knowledge of tax rules.
He said auditors must be able to collect evidence, interview taxpayers, ask detailed questions, and obtain information from other countries.
“Effective transfer-pricing enforcement requires technical capacity, robust legislation, and access to information,” Luvuuma said.
He stressed that international cooperation is particularly important because many transactions under investigation involve companies and financial flows in different countries.
In simple terms, auditors need to “follow the money” to determine where profits are actually being made and whether related companies are reporting their transactions fairly.
Foreign tax information can sometimes reveal significant differences between the profits reported by related companies in different countries, he said.
Luvuuma also warned that taxpayers may push back when auditors begin asking more detailed questions. He said such resistance can sometimes indicate that auditors are asking the right questions and examining the right areas.
Continued support for GRA
ATAF will continue supporting the GRA after the current mission through regular reviews of cases and remote assistance.
Luvuuma said ATAF experts would maintain weekly engagement with GRA officers and participate in actual transfer-pricing audits.
The program, therefore, marks a shift from simply teaching GRA officers about transfer pricing to helping them use those skills in real investigations.
The authorities say stronger enforcement could help prevent tax revenue from being lost through complex international transactions and strengthen the country’s ability to finance public services from domestic resources.
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