GOVT DEPRIVED OF MILLIONS IN REVENUE

MBABANE – Government is being deprived millions in revenue as a result of non-collection of some tariffs, licences and taxes.

The revenue was to be collected by government agencies and parastatals but the estimates tabled by Finance Minister Martin Dlamini show that such revenue is not collected.
Listings in the budget estimates show that as much as 10 revenue items are idle.

One such is the ‘dog tax’ and ‘dog betting’ which have recorded nothing for many years.
For this, the Swaziland Revenue Authority said it had no instrument for collecting dog taxes because such has never happened after independence.

Other items that are also listed as though no tax has been collected from them are provisional tax interest, interest on nonresident artists, trust income from income tax,  tax on trust beneficiaries and betting tax. The SRA insisted, however, that tax has been collected on all these items.

Vusi Dlamini, Head of Communications at the Swaziland Revenue Authority said: “The SRA is collecting taxes on these items.”
He said they were covered by the Income Tax Order, 1975, as amended, while betting tax was covered by the Lotteries Act, 1943.

He said the only taxes not collected were the Dog Tax and Dog Racing Tax which are covered by the Registration of Dogs Act, 1953. These taxes have never been collected in our life-time, nor has it been collected by the previous regime.”
Meanwhile, other sources of revenue listed as having brought nothing for the state included the Game Licence, Labour Agency and Runner Licence, Water Tariff and Prison Labour.
Dlamini said these sources of revenue were not controlled by the SRA, but by the relevant government departments.

He said he was also in no position to state how much the state was losing in terms of the revenue not collected.
The SRA managed to rake in E5.7 billion in taxes for the 2014/15 budget in terms in tax revenues. None tax revenues such as licences, fines and penalties brought in 275 million.

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