TAX DEBT BALLOONS BY 31% TO E4.54 BN

MBABANE – The country’s tax debt stood at E4.54 billion in the 2018/19 fiscal year.

This was a result of non-payment of liabilities from returns submitted for various tax types including income taxes, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Valued Added Tax (VAT).

These figures were disclosed by Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini during the public filing of his income tax return at the Cabinet offices yesterday. This was in compliance with the Kingdom of Eswatini’s Income Tax Order of 1975 as amended.
Dlamini said the tax debt increased by approximately 31 per cent to E4.54 billion from E3.46 billion in 2017/18.

Online

The head of government filed his tax return through the online e-Tax tool which was launched in 2015 by the Eswatini Revenue Authority (SRA). Filing one’s income tax return is a way to inform SRA about the income one has earned.

Meanwhile, e-Tax is an electronic platform which allows one to manage their taxes online. With this service people are able to view account information, file their returns, view statements, view overdue and upcoming returns and payments, access tools to make filing their tax easier and submit enquiries without having to queue at SRA. Dlamini said the rate at which the country’s tax debt increased was a cause for serious concern. He implored SRA to embark on a campaign to ensure that the tax debt was substantially reduced in line with its domestic resource mobilisation plan.

“To all those taxpayers who still owe the State, I encourage them to present themselves to SRA and honour their legal obligation. Not doing so is not only depriving the country growth opportunities, but may have negative consequences for businesses. Paying tax is mandatory and not optional,” he emphasised. In commending the online e-Tax platform, Dlamini said yesterday’s activity attested SRA’s drive to modernise revenue mobilisation in line with their vision to achieve 100 per cent voluntary compliance.

“I can recall that when SRA started the online filing initiative in 2015, the focus was only on businesses registered for the VAT. It is gratifying that SRA has made great strides in ensuring that all major tax types and taxpayer segments are accommodated as part of this improvement. In the current year, companies and individuals cannot only submit their returns online, but this platform allows them to view statements and lodge queries,” he added.

Dlamini said it was disheartening to learn that compliance levels for returns filing of income tax was at 46.7 per cent, which was too low, compared to 63.8 per cent and 85.1 per cent for Pay As You Earn and VAT, respectively.

He did state though that the online platform witnessed was anticipated to enhance the compliance levels. He encouraged all individuals and businesses to contact SRA and register for the e-Tax platform.

The PM said this would not only improve tax compliance, but the counrty’s rating in the World Bank’s Ease of doing Business Index, in line with the target to be among the top 10 in Africa. He said this would greatly assist in the attraction of meaningful investment in order to grow the economy as outlined in the Strategic Roadmap. Dlamini said it was worth noting that the public  filing of returns was one aspect of tax compliance and the main part of the chain was payment compliance.

Pride

“It should be a sense of pride and a pledge of support to the continuous development of our country for all emaSwati to pay tax. These are the funds utilised by government to provide public services that enhance the standard of living for citizens and set us on a trajectory of sustained economic growth and stability. Such services include; free primary education, public infrastructure, health, social welfare and emergency relief, among many others,” he said.

Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg said they were proud of the SRA as it was evidently run well and they could safely use it to encourage other parastatals to walk in the same path.

He said e-Tax filling was an example of moving with the times in the technology era. Rijkenberg also encouraged Emaswati to come through in filling their income tax returns.

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