TRA nets record 14.4tri/- in taxes

HILDA MHAGAMA

THE State has managed to collect 14.4tri/- during FY 2016/17, up from 13.3tri/- the previous year – an increase of 7.6 per cent.

Yet, the government is said to have missed its targeted revenue collection of 15.1tri/- by about 700bn/-. Over the same period, the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) reveals that its collection for last month (June) stood at 1.3tril/-.

TRA Director for Taxpayer Services and Education, Mr Richard Kayombo told reporters in Dar es Salaam that the Authority had since intensified its tax collection across the country, thanks to public compliance.

“The authorities wish to thank all taxpayers for their response and others who are turning out in large numbers to pay their taxes in all our offices countrywide,” he noted. Mr Kayombo has also warned businesspeople against using forged receipts, saying they risked prosecution.

He further said customers should not just claim receipts after purchasing a commodity; they should also make sure the receipt has accurate details of the date and amounts paid. For the purpose of ensuring maximum revenue collection TRA has encouraged the use of Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) machines.

“The campaign to ensure that customers are issued with EFD receipts is ongoing to ensure the government gets all due revenue,” said Mr Kayombo. On property tax, the TRA official said buildings’ owners were reminded on the importance of willingly paying their property taxes to avoid legal action.

The authority has decided to extend time for property tax collection to July 15, this year, to give chance to those who did not get time to pay their taxes to do so. He, however, reminded general public that 2017/18 financial year which started July 1, has begun and therefore they must start paying their property taxes earlier instead of waiting for ‘D-days’.

“People should start paying their taxes earlier instead of waiting until the final days. We have almost 365 days ahead to the coming financial year, we are hoping this time people will pay their property taxes on time,” he said.

Mr Kayombo said the taxman officially started collecting Property Tax in October 2016, initially targeting 30 out of 183 local government authorities.