Africa-Press – Eswatini. Federation of Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) Head of Transformation Mavela Sigwane says they have been briefed about the changes by ERS and welcome them.
Sigwane told this publication that they welcome changes by the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) as they seek to improve on efficiencies. Sigwane was reacting to this publication’s questions regarding the complaints from some businesses regarding the newly introduced Value Added Tax (VAT) declaration tool (VAT schedule). Some businesses had raised concerns about this new programme, mentioning that they were not given enough time to adapt to the new system, whereas they were expected to start using it right away. They also complained that the changes in their initial accounting systems came at a cost as they needed to contact their system providers to help in installing the new ERS programme.
Version
According to the information sent to the businesses, the VAT declaration tool is changing from a summarised version to a detailed version, which is the new VAT schedule. ERS is implementing a new intergrated revenue administration system called Oracle Revenue Management and Billing (ORMB). The new system will be live and ready for use by ERS staff and clients in December 2023. It was stated that with effect from July 1, 2023, the ERS would accept only the new VAT schedule available on the ERS website. “No other layout will be accepted, for example; pdfs, word and excel, that are not aligned to the specific VAT schedule,” read the notice. In a previous interview, ERS Head of Corporate Communications Vusi Dlamini said they had run a series of engagements and training on this new schedule, which they introduced in October 2022.
Dlamini said this was part of the country’s tax digitalisation agenda, where they were trying to make it easier for their clients in the medium to long-term period, whom in many cases had demonstrated to face challenges in submitting their VAT returns. In an interview last week, Sigwane stated that capacity building in ensuring a smooth transition was part of the programme. He said it was very important for businesspeople to appreciate the value of affiliating with FESBC, such changes would never shock them because they would get briefed through the federation.
Memorandum
Dlamini concurred with Sigwane’s statement that they (ERS) did engage FESBC and Business Eswatini (BE). He highlighted that it was for such reasons that they recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ERS. “If one chooses to run his or her business without affiliating under FESBC, it means you have chosen to run your business without adequate business information about current and future states of affairs, which may assist in taking informed business decisions,” said Sigwane.
Inputs
The head of transformation added that as FESBC they were currently busy reviewing the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) policy and all businesses have been requested to make inputs in order to ensure that all difficulties faced by SMME were eliminated through the policy.
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