Tax-payers in the small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) sector have been urged to embrace electronic payment systems as the innovation "will help them reduce operation costs”.

Drocelle Mukashyaka, the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) deputy commissioner general for tax-payer services, said e-tax payment initiatives, like electronic billing machines and mobile tax filing systems, also help SMEs to keep clean books of accounts.

Mukashyaka, who was speaking during a tax-payers sensitisation workshop at in Kigali last week, added that e-tax payment platforms ease tax payment and save time compared to the old way of filing tax returns where taxpayers had to spend hours lining up at banks or RRA offices.

However, the participants said they were not aware of some of the payment systems, and urged RRA to carry out massive sensitisation drives among SMEs.

"Most of us don’t even know about these platforms, while others lack the skills to use them.

Therefore, we are left with no option but to line up for hours to file our tax returns,” John Bosco Maniriho, the manager of New Vision Bakery, said. So, RRA should make it a priority to sensitise SMEs on the different tax payment systems to ease the process.

Mukashyaka said the workshop aimed at explaining to tax-payers in the SME sector the various types of taxes and how they apply to different business categories.

"It’s essential for SME operators to understand the different tax categories, like patent tax, Value added tax (VAT), customs and excise tax, income tax and how they apply.”

The revenue authority has introduced various platforms that tax-payers can use to file returns.

"SMEs need to know that paying on time saves them the inconveniencies, including paying penalties,” Makashyaka added.

Last week, Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) started registeration of taxpayers at the district level to reduce instances of tax evasion and tax avoidance, a move that is expected to boost revenue collections. The tax body will also use the initiative to educate tax-payers on different tax matters.

The SMEs sector represents 90 per cent of total businesses across the country.

The tax body collected Rwf411.5 billion during the July-December, 2014 period, which was slightly lower than the Rwf432.7 billion it had projected.

Government plans to raise Rwf986 billion of this financial year’s Rwf1.75 trillion national budget domestically. This is over 56 per cent of the total budget.

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