What TRA wants from you in 5 yrs
“We know that Tanzania’s economy is growing faster than most other
countries in the East African Community and we hope to achieve Sh19
trillion by the 2017/2018 financial years” RISHED BADE, TRA
COMMISSIONER GENERAL
By Samuel Kamndaya,The Citizen Reporter
In Summary
- TRA boss wants you, the taxpayer, to fully fund the national budget in next five years–but only on condition that the government plays its part too.
- Taxman says the Budget can be financed through internal revenue if the government plays its part too and reduces lavish spending, which has dominated financial discussions in the nation in the past decade
And that’s not all. According to the chief taxman,
the government should also reduce external borrowing, which has
ballooned in recent years. Consider the four-wheel drive fuel guzzlers
which rule Tanzania’s roads at a cost of roughly $200,000 each. There
are plenty of them on show, despite the government’s pledge four years
that it would do away with the luxury Toyotas.
And then there is the $800 million set aside
during the national budget simply to pay allowances and per diems. Now
reflect on how much foreign trips by various leaders cost the nation.
And how much corruption costs the economy,
But TRA Commissioner-General Rished Bade says
Tanzania is capable of financing its entire budget through funds sourced
right here at home in the next five years, raising hope that East
Africa’s second largest economy is on the right path to economic
independence.
He told The Citizen in an exclusive
interview in his office yesterday that, going by the trend of Tanzania’s
economic growth, TRA should be in a position to garner enough revenue
to support the entire budget. “In five years, we should be able to do
that,” the former Barclays Bank Tanzania managing director told The Citizen.
But to achieve this, Tanzania needs to slow down
on budget expansion by reducing spending and foreign non-concessional
loans. “This is what we want--that our budget be financed by internal
resources by 100 per cent,” he said.
The Citizen understands that TRA is
working on a project to reach out to businesses that are either informal
or moderately informal so they can be formalised and start contributing
significantly to government revenues.
TRA is also working on initiatives to simplify the
tax payment process using new systems that are interactive and
connected to taxpayers--the most notable one being the introduction of
Tanzania Customs Integrated System (Tancis). With Tancis, import taxes
are paid on time.
Mr Bade, who started his career in 1995 with the
Bank of Tanzania, added: “After Tancis, we will introduce a more robust
integrated domestic revenue administration system that will be more
user-friendly. It is expected to simplify submission of returns. It will
change the way taxpayers communicate with TRA and provide timely
information on defaulters for intervention.”
Through both grants and concessionary loans,
donors account for 15 per cent of Tanzania’s 2014/15 fiscal budget. The
rest is taken care of by domestic revenues--both tax and non-tax--as
well as non-concessional loans from both local and foreign sources.
TRA is banking on electronic fiscal devices to
rope more of the country’s 46 million people into the tax bracket.
National identity cards will also help the taxman reach a much wider
population for tax collection purposes.
Going by the 2014/2015 budget, TRA is required to
collect a total of Sh11.297 trillion to help finance a Sh19.8 trillion
revenue and expenditure plan. In the first six months, the taxman
garnered about Sh5 trillion in December alone, with TRA collecting a
record Sh1.056 trillion
