HEAVY TAXES TO BE AVERTED

In Rwanda, Kigali   Courtesy of Africa Tax Administration Forum (ATAF)

Do you feel double taxed or taxed to the bone? Then Africa Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and Pan African Parliament (PAP) have a solution for you.
Hardly a week after Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg announced that there would new taxes introduced, which include charging 15 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity and a seven per cent increase in sin taxes, it has been disclosed that plans are well underway to harmonise tax legislation across the African continent to avert issues such as double taxation or heavy taxation among other factors which prompt tax evasion and non- voluntary compliance.

Engagement

“I am very grateful that ATAF and PAP have come together to collate a strategy that will help harmonise legislation in order to address some of the key issues affecting taxpayers within the continent,” said Botswana Member of Parliament (MP) Phenyo Butale during the ongoing media engagement and training in Kigali, Rwanda after delegates had been informed that ATAF and PAP had recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
It should be mentioned that Eswatini Revenue Authority (SRA) is a member of ATAF and it had been represented by Director Communications Vusi Dlamini at the training.

Over 60 selected media from across Africa have converged on Rwanda’s capital, to discuss their role in addressing emerging tax issues that affect the continent’s development.
Organised by ATAF and hosted by Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), the meeting – the second one since 2018 – underscores the media’s critical role in unpacking the benefits of tax on citizens and in holding governments to account when it comes to corruption and tax matters.
Participants discussed the impact of the fourth industrial revolution on Africa’s growth.

Strategy

Speaking on behalf of the Rwanda Revenue Authority, Aimable Kayigi Habiyambere, the Commissioner of Domestic Taxes, said, “We are honoured to host this second media engagement and training programme. As a Member of the ATAF Council, Rwanda shares with ATAF the common vision of building strong revenue authorities in Africa, as a key strategy towards domestic resource mobilisation.”

Habiyambere pointed out that through its many capacity-building initiatives, ATAF had helped several African tax administrations, including RRA, to improve their revenue collection performance over the years.

“Without doubt, there are unresolved issues such as digitalisation that still need to be unpacked, which is why partnering with continental media remains central to our strategy to promote equitable development for the benefit of our citizens,” explained Habiyambere.

 Mary Baine, Director of Tax Programmes at ATAF, pointed out that the era of digitalisation had already landed. She said the fact that Africa’s much-needed tax base was being eroded simply through unrecorded revenue could no longer be ignored.

 “Our continent, now more than ever, needs all the resources if it is to promote its socio-economic growth and the wellbeing of its populations. We see the media as partners in our journey to advance the discourse on tax and development,” said Baine.

The participants – drawn from both public and private media – delved into conversations around how media could unpack the significance of tax issues, and how simplifying these matters could allow citizens to better understand their obligations and their contribution to development in their countries as well as their role in holding States accountable.

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