IRC begins phased rollout of GST monitoring system

The Internal Revenue Commission [IRC] has commenced engagement with business houses to roll out its new Goods and Services Tax Monitoring System [GMS].

The automated system is designed to directly address long-standing tax monitoring and compliance challenges faced by the tax office.

In an interview, IRC Acting Commissioner-General Sam Loi said the tax office anticipates having a fully refined and established system operational by the end of 2026.

The GMS was initially planned to debut alongside the Government’s zero-tax rating on 13 basic household items last year, but the rollout was deferred to this year.

While the system is now operational, Loi said it will be introduced across the country in distinct phases.

“The team is now doing awareness, engaging with some of the big shops that are going to be the first point of rollout," he said.

“It is going to be rolled out in phases, targeting the riskiest sectors and the sectors where we have the highest consumption.”

Operating as a data collection and intelligence tool, the GMS will link directly to business houses at the point of sale [POS] to capture real-time transaction data.

“Once we have this established at the point of sale, it will tell the IRC what GST has been collected at, for instance, a waterfront shop," Loi said.

“Even before they file their return, we will actually know how much they should be filing to us, and we can pre-fill or pre-populate the tax return.”

The IRC expects the phased deployment throughout this year to pave the way for a highly refined system capable of curbing tax evasion and streamlining compliance into the future.