If all Rwandans doing business paid their taxes accordingly, the country could easily finance its annual budget, a top Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) official has said.

Gerard Nkusi Mukubu, the Director for Taxpayers’ Services, was Thursday addressing Nyarugenge District leaders as part of the tax body’s nationwide sensitization on the importance of paying taxes.

He said that according to an RRA survey, about 80,000 people in the country are currently carrying out business activities, yet only 26,000 are registered as taxpayers. Of the registered taxpayers, only 20,000 pay taxes as they should, the official added.

Noting that this year’s national budget is 52 percent locally financed, Mukubu said that Rwandans had the capacity to finance the entire national budget if everyone paid their taxes.

He urged local leaders in Nyarugenge District to always sensitize residents to pay taxes on time.

"Our country has made remarkable progress in tax collections in the recent years, but we still have a long way to go; so I urge you to always encourage residents in the business community to pay taxes on time and to avoid evading taxes because this will enable us to achieve sustainable development for our country” Nkusi said.

He asked them to mobilize the residents to fight smuggling by reporting such cases.

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