Funding Rwanda’s next budget will require change of attitude in the business community, consumers, and government auditors to ensure that no more taxes are left unpaid if Rwandans are to succeed with this year’s step towards self-reliance.

Rwanda’s total domestic revenues for the next budget 2013-2014 have been estimated at Rwf 994.9 billion which is 60.2 per cent of the Rwf 1.6 trillion Budget, leaving external resources to account for only 39.8 per cent (Rwf 658.6 billion).

It is a step forward towards fiscal independence for Rwanda that 13 years ago used to depend on donor aid at 85 per cent of her total budget.

The government has projected that implementation of new revenue administration measures to have more consumers buy electronically and business owners pay taxes electronically will go a long way in extending the country’s tax base.

While officials are confident that 60.2 per cent of the budget that is needed in domestic resources will be successfully raised especially through taxes because the country’s private sector is booming, enormous challenges remain with regards to the attitude in the process to pay the taxes.

A lot will have to be done to sensitise business people, consumers, and tax auditors to make the use of genuine payment and tax receipts a strong habit in their transactions. Some business people who have been given electronic billing machines by the Rwanda Revenue Authority are trying to avoid using them and the tax body should be following up very closely.