LOBAMBA – Stop it now!
The Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) has received strong criticism from Member of Parliament (MPs) regarding the implementation of strict requirements for the Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC).
In fact, some of the MPs have submitted that the strict requirements should be stopped immediately.
This was during the portfolio committee debate of the Ministry of Finance, where the ERS was accused of being ‘facata’ in that it is allegedly killing local businesses, which are already struggling.
So serious was the criticism that some of the MPs used sting words as they described how ERS is frustrating emaSwati and local businesses.
Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini said ERS, alongside the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC), are the most hated entities.
He put his submission in vernacular and said: “Bofacata bobabili”.
The word ‘facata’ is used to refer to scammers.
Mahlangatja MP Mgucisi Dlamini also used a strong word when referring to ERS regarding the same issue.
He said young children will grow up knowing the ERS as a ghost (sipoko), which he said is not a good thing.
“Many local businesses have been forced to shut down. When you look around, those left in business are the foreign people and the country does not benefit anything from them, as the money they generate is kept under pillows,” he said.
The TCC requirement relates to tenders and services valued above E20 000 and it demands that commercial transactions must be accompanied by the tax certificate.
It demands that anyone tendering to supply goods or services of E20 000 and above, not only to government or parastatals, but also to private companies or other organisations, must first produce a Tax Clearance Certificate.
The MPs first submitted that the ERS frustrates local businesses, charging a E200 penalty whenever they have not complied and paid their taxes.
According to the MPs, these penalties are unfair to the local businesses, as most of them supply government and are never paid on time.
Mafutseni MP Sabelo Mtetwa was the first to raise the issue and asked the Minister for Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, to engage the ERS with an aim to allow for a waiver on all businesses that are owing money for the penalties.
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