Inland Revenue’s technical operations under review by National Audit Office

An Audit Report on the overall operational effectiveness of Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) used by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) was presented yesterday during parliament and will be available on the National Audit Office (NAO) website.

According to a press statement, the audit displays that the majority of companies used IRD online facilities to file tax returns in 2010. Individual taxpayers also seem to increasingly be opting to use the online facilities rather than filing tax returns manually.

A number of IT/IS projects are to be included in the IRD taxation programme which is in the process of formalising its IT strategy following consultation. More IT staff have been recruited to improve load distribution within the IT section reducing the reliance on individual staff members.

Recommendations made by the NAO focused on the analysis of IRD IT and IS operational costs, and the management of the IRD IT and IS inventories. The NAO also recommended that IRD should participate in IT Projects managed by Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA).

A review of five IRD software applications was also included in the Audit Report listing recommendations by the NAO related to software access control, user friendliness, enhancements management and uptake of online services.

The report also refers to the protection of information assets and concludes with further NAO recommendations regarding the “need to have in place IT business continuity and disaster recovery plans for the IRD”.