Times Of Swaziland: VAT REVENUE UP BY 9%

VAT REVENUE UP BY 9%
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Nhlanganiso Mkhonta on 19/09/2024 07:37:00


EZULWINI – Though there was slight improvement in the value added tax VAT
collections, non-compliance to remitting VAT remains the major concern to ERS.
Edward Groening, the Director of the Research, Strategy and Statistics
Department at the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) said, they have continued to
see gaps in the VAT collections but the improvement was impressive. He said they
have seen an improvement in the collections of 9 per cent when compared to the
previous year.Groening said as of this date, VAT was the fastest growing when
compared to all the tax types collected in the country. He said, for the first
time, they have seen an increase, going above the set target by 2 per cent. He
added that they have also seen an improvement in the voluntary compliance but
there were still significant gaps noted as far as this type of tax was
concerned.  ERC Commissioner General Brightwell Nkambule said the recently
introduced systems have improved the organisation’s performance ratios.
Comply
Speaking during the press briefing in February, Nkambule said, among the VAT
clients, there were those who continuously failed to comply with the remitting
of VAT obligation.
He said they had observed that some VAT registered clients were collecting VAT
but underdeclaring. He said it was also observed that some clients were
collecting VAT but they were not declaring, and not remitting collected VAT.
He said another observed behaviour was that VAT Registered clients declared VAT
but failed to remit payment. He added, on the other hand, that some VAT
un-registered clients were collecting VAT.  The commissioner general mentioned
that another concern was the undeclared import VAT at Border Posts and
underdeclared import VAT.  Meanwhile, the commissioner general highlighted that
emaSwati were taking advantage of the new Sondzela Sikhulume Campaign aimed to
encourage clients to come forward with their non-compliance issues for
deliberation. The campaign encourages clients, both individuals, and businesses,
to proactively engage with the ERS to explore tailored solutions for managing
their tax matters.
He said emaSwati that were having challenges in complying with their tax
obligations were coming forward and they were happily getting the help they
need.