Taxman projects 24pc collection rise

 

TRA Commissioner General,Mr Harry Kitillya By Louis KolumbiaThe Citizen CorrespondentDar es Salaam. Tax revenues, to be collected by Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) are expected to increase by 23.91 per cent during the 2013/2014 financial year, the taxman has said, raising hopes that the country is on the right path to economic independence. The TRA Commissioner General, Mr Harry Kitillya, said in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday that the tax body targets collecting Sh10 trillion in the 2013/2014 financial year. This represents a target of Sh1.93trillion or 23.91 per cent more than the Sh8.07trillion that the taxman is expected to garner in the current financial year. “Details on the collections’ breakdown will be announced by Finance minister (Dr William Mgimwa) when he tables the budget in parliament next month,” he told reporters in Dar es Salaam on the sidelines of an event to launch TRA’s new website. The increase, he said, will mostly be realized due to strategies made to curb tax evasion and increase customer interactions. According to him, tax evasion is a global problem that consumes much of the time for tax bodies, subjecting them to tirelessly find new ways of curbing the problem. He called upon taxpayers to present true and accurate sales turnovers for their companies for accurately calculating the precise tax to be paid.  “It is a routine that TRA reassess taxpayer’s revenue estimates and once a customer has underestimated, the underrated amount is subjected to more tax charges from TRA….It is therefore not true that we double tax our customers….it’s a question of being honest,” he said.