Africa-Press – Tanzania. INTRODUCTION of Electronic Tax Stamps (ETS) on beers, wines and spirits has led to an increase of 60 per cent in collection of excise duty during the past two and half years-Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) figures display.
Speaking in an interview recently, the TRA’s ETS Project Manager, Mr Innocent Minja, explained further that adoption of the technology has recorded a double-digits increase on all products which are affixed with the tamper-free digital tax stamps.
Giving the breakdown of the figures, Mr Minja explained that the collection of excise duty on locally produced and imported beers, wines and spirits rose to 476.7bn/- since the system was introduced on January 15, 2019.
Before that, the taxman had collected just 297.2bn/- for three years before the adoption of the electronic tax stamps, which are meant to replace the hitherto physical paper stamps which were prone to cheating and under-declaration of taxes.
According to Mr Minja, excise duty and value added tax (VAT) on beers has increased by 15 per cent whereas duties have also increased by 29 per cent and 156 per cent for soft drinks and bottled water, respectively.
“We understand that some manufacturers have aired their views on the need to review the rates we charge them for the ETS but it is also true that the system is crucial for them and us,” the Project Manager pointed out.
Adding, “It enables the producers to track the quantity of production at their plants and at the same time allows the tax collector to trace in real time the amount of production at factories and imports and thus compute requisite taxes to be paid.”
The Project Manager was however, upbeat that there was room for improvement of the system for the benefit of both producers and the government through the collection of taxes.
The government of Tanzania through the then Minister of Finance and Planning, who is now Vice-President, Dr Philip Mpango, announced plans to roll out ETS in June 2018 and the first phase of the system was introduced on January 15, 2019.
During the first phase, the technology was installed on companies that produce wines, beers, spirits and tobacco products.
The second phase was rolled out on August 1, 2019, for products such as bottled water and other non-alcoholic drinks such as energy drinks.
It was further extended on November 1, 2020, for fruit and vegetable juices in addition to recorded film and music products.
