Rwanda Revenue Authority has called upon all businesses to clear their inventories among other activities ahead of the closing fiscal year 2021.

In a statement released by the Revenue body which The New Times came across, the results of data analysis from Electronic Invoicing Systems (EBM) revealed that some businesses have bigger stocks of goods that might have been sold without issuing corresponding EBM receipts.

The communique signed by the RRA Commissioner General requested all taxpayers to:

"Verify if the physical inventory of stock quantity and value corresponds to the data entered in the EBM system in order to use accurate information while processing financial statements for the financial year 2021,” the communique says.

It also urged them to produce the receipts for the goods that are out of stock without EBM receipts not later than the end of December.

"File and pay taxes related to EBM receipts that had not been issued and do so in the timeframe provided by the law to allow the RRA system to recognize those sales as expenses for the physical year 2021,” added the statement.  

Taxpayers who do not use EBM receipts for the goods and services purchased within this fiscal year were also reminded to request EBM receipts from their suppliers before December 31, so as to also be recognized by system.

Contacted for a comment, Emmy Mbera, RRA’s Assistant Commissioner in Charge of Tax Control, said that the move aims at paving way for next year’s tax declaration procedures and prevent taxpayers from any challenges which could hinder their businesses and other entities claiming tax deductions associated with expenses.

"This is to prepare for the declaration of the next year, so we are calling on businesses to evaluate and solve any issue ahead of time, before being overwhelmed by the time financial statements declaration is done,” he said.

"Make sure what you sold corresponds to what you have declared, even if you don’t have enough money to pay the due tax at once, we can give you a grace period to pay later, but after having declared transparently,” he added.  

Legal provisions stipulate that anyone who did not use EBM receipts for VAT transactions, the VAT amount is multiplied ten times for a first-time offender and 20 times for a second-time offender. For a VAT exempted taxpayer, the value of the tax is doubled.