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Benchmarking exercise to
begin soon
by a staff reporter
The much-awaited benchmarking exercise announced by the government
in the last budget is expected to start soon, Finance Minister
John Dalli said on Tuesday, adding that 24 job sectors had been
earmarked for this exercise.
Addressing a press conference to highlight the ministry’s
work over the past year, Mr Dalli said that people working in
the indicated 24 sectors would now be discovering whether their
income declarations will be
seen by the authorities to be out of line and therefore resulting
in an
investigation.
The finance minister stressed that the benchmarking exercise
could not be compared to the MLP’s ex ufficio. The benchmarks,
he said, are not binding but just indicators, and do not put
everyone under one category. Using the established benchmarks,
the authorities will be able to question why an individual is
not earning as much as others in the same sector. Following
due inquiries the individual will be asked to explain his position.
Mr Dalli listed the 24 sectors as follows:
• seven involve the professions: architects, notaries,
the medical profession, dentists, accountants, lawyers and private
lessons teachers;
• five involve the car industry: mechanics, panel beaters,
sprayers, car hire, and driving schools;
• six in the construction sector: builders, electricians/plumbers/drainpipe
layers, tile-layers, waterproofing, excavation works; and
• six involving services: domestic appliances repairs,
tourist guides, hairdressers, wedding hall owners, funeral services,
English language schools.
The Tax Compliance Unit has created what it has called a data
warehouse with on-line links to the following departments: VAT,
Customs, car registration, register of companies, civil registration.
Later on, further links will be added with the tax on transfers
and documents, ETC register, Eureka (transfers of property and
lending of money), DAS (government contracts) Planning Authority
(building permits), the Courts (registry of due payments).
Through this cross-checking, TCU can analyse the information
gathered over a period of years on individual taxpayers or sectors
of taxpayers.
The study for the fixing of benchmarks per sector was concluded
in July. Analysed by two economists, the exercise established
the potential gross revenue in the various sectors.
The TCU has also started to investigate those taxpayers believed
to be risking tax evasion. A list of people to be investigated
has been drawn up.
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