Abstract:
Lesotho Revenue Authority became operational in January 2003, when introducing the Authority the main aim was to increase revenue effectively through acquisition of skilled staff, increase integrity and effective use of automated systems. However, it seems that some of the systems that the department employs to collect revenue are not effective. There are no legal frameworks in place to ensure that regulations are enforceable. Performance appraisal is not practiced. There is no adequate publicity to make taxpayers aware of tax policies and compliance. This paper examines the effectiveness of tax collection system at customs and excise. This study is a qualitative case study approach. Most of the primary data will be collected from the use of open ended questionnaires and in-depth interview schedules which make an allowance to a greater internal between the researcher and the interviewee. A sample of 50 employees was used with the objective that employees were chosen on the basis of knowledge of the organisation and therefore purposive sampling was used. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse data and it included frequency distribution whereby the responses were presented in a tabular form and bar charts. The research findings revealed that department of Customs and Excise does not have an effective system for its collection of tax. Their administration is very poor performance appraisal is not practiced and there is not enough publicity on tax policies and compliance. In order to improve the effectiveness of the system, Customs and Excise should consider setting new policies and regulations which are in line with their current operation. Performance appraisal and reward system should also be taken into consideration to improve efficiency among the employees and lastly the use of different radio stations should be considered as awareness campaign on tax policies and compliance.
