Paying taxes is a patriotic duty for every Rwandan, and should be done with pride to help accelerate the country’s development goals, Odette Uwamariya, the governor for the Eastern Province, has said. Uwamariya added that taxes enable the government to deliver services to citizens in time. The governor was speaking during a meeting of the province’s tax advisory council in Rwamagana District last week. It attracted key stakeholders from across the province and tax administrators to discuss and evaluate the first semester of fiscal year 2015/2016 fiscal year. “If we want Rwanda to be self-reliant, we must pay taxes on time and contribute to other development initiatives,” she said. Uwamariya applauded the efforts made by Rwanda Revenue Authority to streamline tax administration, but noted that there are still some challenges that need to be addressed to increase revenue collection. She said the province collected Rwf2 billion in this first half of the 2015/16 fiscal year of the Rwf7.5 billion targeted this year. Speaking at the event, Richard Tusabe, the Commissioner General of Rwanda Revenue Authority, said they have outsourced tax collection in districts to Ngali Holdings to improve efficiency in tax administration. The firm, he said, complements other initiatives like electronic billing machines, mobile money and MobiCash e-tax payment services.
