Government institutions should support private sector firms to help them improve their operations, a move that would increase productivity and boost tax collections, Yusuf Murangwa, the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) board chairman, has said.

He argued that the approach would enable companies expand their business lines, thus pay more taxes. Murangwa, also the director general of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, was addressing heads of public institutions during a tax dialogue organised by RRA in Kigali yesterday.

Speaking at the event, Richard Tusabe, the RRA Commissioner General, encouraged the private sector to pay their taxes timely, saying it would enable the government to fund the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II) programmes and deliver services to citizens.

The revenue performance (tax and non-tax revenues) for July 2013 to June 2014 stood at Rwf769 billion against the set target of Rwf793.2 billion, figures from RRA indicate. This performance indicates an achievement of 96.9 per cent.

Revenue collection during the July 2013-June 2014 fiscal year grew by 16 per cent with total tax revenue collection amounting to Rwf759.8 billion short of the target of Rwf782.5 billion.