Procurement for the Business Transformation programme

Auditor-General’s report, Inland Revenue Department: Procurement for the Business Transformation programme

The Auditor-General’s report Inland Revenue Department: Procurement for the Business Transformation programme was presented to the House of Representatives today.

Inland Revenue is spending millions of dollars on its Business Transformation programme (the programme), which is designed to create a “modern revenue system” that will make it easier for taxpayers to pay their taxes. Much of the programme’s costs come from purchasing goods and services.

Because the programme needed a greater number of often more costly and more complex procurements than Inland Revenue had entered into before, Inland Revenue recently changed its approach to procurement, firstly for the programme and later throughout the whole organisation.

We looked at whether Inland Revenue’s procurement and contract management for the programme is well managed and whether it complies with relevant rules and requirements.

In our view, Inland Revenue has a clear vision and purpose for its new approach to procurement. Although changes have been implemented only recently, there are early signs that those changes are likely to improve supplier performance and outcomes for Inland Revenue.

However, Inland Revenue still needs to make improvements to some of its processes around compliance and record-keeping to ensure that it always follows a robust, fair, and consistent approach to procurement. In particular, Inland Revenue needs to strengthen the way it applies and records quality controls, and how it keeps procurement and contract records. It also needs to put adequate probity assurance arrangements in place.

Our report includes four recommendations to help Inland Revenue improve the way it procures goods and services. We will follow up on the progress Inland Revenue is making in implementing these recommendations as part of our ongoing review of the programme.

A two-page summary and epub for this report are also available.

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