THE government has settled debts amounting 190bn/- it owed suppliers, contractors and arrears of public servants between July and September, this year, after it carried out verification on the authenticity of the debts.
Deputy Minister for Finance and
Planning, Dr Ashatu Kijaji made the revelation during a meeting with the
business community in Kagera, during her working visit which is
intended to inspect operations of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and
the Government Procurement Services Agency (GSPA).
According to Dr Kijaji, 67.2bn/- was
paid to suppliers, 24.2bn/- to contractors while arrears to public
servants stood at 37bn/-. Other service providers were paid 62bn/-. The
Deputy Minister said that the government has allocated over 1trl/-
during the 2017/2018 financial year to settle debts, stressing that the
debts will be settled only after being verified to be genuine.
Dr Kijaji told the business community
that the government recognises their contribution to the economy through
payment of various taxes which are used to improve infrastructure and
social services in the country.
“As such, I urge the businesspersons to
use electronic fiscal devices (EFDs) in all business transactions and
issue receipts to customers; buyers on the other hand should demand
receipts indicating the exact amount of money for goods and services
they have purchased,” she urged.
Speaking earlier, the Chairperson of the
business community in Kagera Region, Mr Seif Mkude, hailed the Fifth
Phase Government for being firm on tax collection to boost the economy
and social services.
“The business community is pleased as
well on how the government put to proper use the taxes which are
collected to implement strategic development projects; we pledge to
continue paying the requisite tariffs,” Mr Mkude stated.
He urged fellow businesspersons to
voluntary pay the duties to support efforts by President John Magufuli
on improving the economy, urging the government on the other hand to
address challenges which they had aired before the Deputy Minister.
Speaking on behalf of Kagera Regional
Commissioner, the Bukoba District Commissioner, Mr Deodatus Kinawiro,
urged the businesspersons to expand their businesses to benefit from
opportunities in neighbouring countries namely Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi
and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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