Africa-Press – Eswatini. Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) is offering relaxed terms to taxpayers who settle their debts this month.
The institution, which was formerly known as Eswatini Revenue Authority, announced a 20 per cent down payment on all taxes. In general terms, down payment is money paid upfront in a financial transaction. According to ERS, there is a 12-month payment arrangement on the balance. Meanwhile, in its latest annual report, ERS reported that tax arrears increased across all tax types, leading to an overall increase of 36.4 per cent in amounts owed by taxpayers. As at March 31, 2021, the total debt stock was E7.262 billion from an opening balance of E5.326 billion.
Significant
There was a significant increase of 49.5 per cent on Income tax debts, while value added tax (VAT) and pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) debts increased by 35.6 and 27.1 per cent respectively, during the year under review. PAYE is said to have faced pressure from non-paying public enterprises who were facing cash flow challenges, while VAT debts increased due to non-payment of filed returns. Debts under personal income taxes also saw a substantial growth by the end of 2020-21 due to individuals that saw increases in their declarations in this period. As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), tax arrears increased from 8.5 in 2019-20 to 11.2 per cent in 2020-21. The debt to tax revenue ratio as at the close of the year was 74.8 per cent against a target of 39.2 per cent. A debt collection strategy was reportedly developed and implemented during the year, resulting in vigorous collection of debts.
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