Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA Revenue Authority (TRA) has collected 1.970tri/- in September, which is up by 13 per cent compared to the collections during the corresponding period, last year.
The total money collected is 93 per cent of the target, which was set at 2.128tri/-.
Speaking to journalists in Morogoro yesterday, Chief Government Spokesperson Mr Gerson Msigwa said the collection has increased compared to a similar period in 2020, where TRA collected 1.703tri/- equivalent to 80 per cent of the set target of collecting 2.229tri/-.
Chief Government Spokesperson Mr Gerson Msigwa, told journalists in Morogoro yesterday that the collection has increased compared to the same period in 2020, when TRA collected 1.703tri/-, 80 per cent of the stated target of 2.229tri/-.
“The TRA is performing well in terms of revenue collection. Tanzanians continue to respond positively to the call to pay taxes voluntarily, with excellent results,” he stated.
TRA has collected 18.14tri/- for the 2020/2021 financial year, up compared to 17.2tri/- garnered in the previous financial year.
According to the taxman, the amount was collected from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, which is an average of 1.51tri/- per month.
In the fourth quarter of the 2020/2021 fiscal year from April to June 2021, TRA collected 4.45tri/-, where in April it collected 1.34tril/-, 1.35tril/- in May and 1.85tril/- in June.
In April this year, President Samia Suluhu Hassan gave the Finance Minister, Dr Mwigulu Nchemba a tax revenue collection target of 2tri/- per month and to stop killing the goose that lays golden eggs.
President Samia said the Finance Ministry’s approach in tax collection was counterproductive and it was killing off businesses and scaring away investors.
She made the remarks at the swearing-in ceremony of new Chief Secretary, Ambassador Hussein Kattanga and newly-appointed and reshuffled ministers and deputy ministers in Dodoma.
“We want 2tri/- per month. You should widen the tax base but you should also create more taxpayers,” she directed the new Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Nchemba.
The president told the minister to adopt a more efficient tax collection approach that would encourage compliance instead of the current trend of using force which has raised concerns among the business community of being counterproductive.
The president was cementing Vice-President Dr Philip Mpango’s call to his successor, Dr Nchemba to ensure the government’s monthly revenue collection reaches 2tri/- by end of this year.
In other development, Mr Msigwa announced that the government has begun the bid for a consultant contractor to conduct a feasibility study and detailed design for the four-lane upgrade of the Morogoro-Dodoma highway.
“This is the road that most freight is transported to the Central Zone, Lake and Western Regions. This road is also used to transport goods to Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and South Sudan,” he said.
Mr Msigwa went on to say that the government has taken tangible steps to combat poaching through a variety of initiatives, including conservation training and the establishment and professional use of a wildlife conservation paramilitary unit.
According to him, recent initiatives have helped the country reduce poaching by 90 per cent, resulting in major increases in animal populations, such as elephants, which have climbed from 43,000 to 60,000.
He stated that between March and September this year, the Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank (TADB) issued 54.8bn/- in loans to finance various agricultural, livestock, and fisheries projects, benefiting 12,300 individuals.
“The cooperatives of Kahama, Chato, Mbogwe, and Bukombe were awarded loans totalling 7.15bn/- and were able to purchase 5.6 million kilograms of cotton from farmers. Since 2020, these associations’ cotton processing enterprises have been revitalized with TADB loans,” he stated.
Mr Msigwa stated that the government has granted a subsidy to the Smallholder Farmers’ Credit Guarantee Scheme (SCGS) through TADB to encourage banks to lend to farmers.
The spokesperson said smallholder farmers have borrowed about 89.9bn/- from banks for agricultural development as of September 29.
