AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Zanzibar State Minister- Finance and Planning, Mr Jamali Kassim Ali has called for improved revenue collection in the Islands as a major way of having enough money to fulfill promises made by politicians led by President Hussein Ali Mwinyi during the election campaigns this year.
He made the call when he met executives and staff at the Zanzibar Revenue Board (ZRB), where he expressed disappointment with existing gaps in tax collection, which provides room for corruption and tax evasion.
“Let us work seriously to boost revenue. The government has a lot to do as promised by the president,” he said as he directed the ZRB administration to apply technology in their daily activities because the old way of issuing receipts is outdated and allows tax evasion.
In reaction to the concerns raised by the minister, the ZRB Commissioner, Mr Joseph Abdalla Meza said his office has improved collection through minimizing gaps that allowed cheating.
“We are on track to fully shift to modern the world in tax collection” he insisted.
Last week, the CRDB Bank told President Mwinyi that it was already discussing with some public institutions, including ZRB on how better it can help improve revenue collection using modern technology after admirable success in the immigration department, where it improves collection from visas and other payable services.
Zanzibar relies heavily on services and tourism for its economy, and the president has vowed to spare no efforts in ensuring tax is payed and it benefits the public through planned projects and programmes.
