Joint efforts can address tax compliance challenges

Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), Monday, launched a campaign to sensitise and encourage the business community to register with Value Added Tax (VAT).This exercise, will also involve cracking down on deliberate VAT defaulters. It is important for RRA to intensify the sensitization campaigns, since there are a still people who do not pay their taxes because they do not know how it is calculated or what their taxes are used for According to statistics from the Tax body, 50 per cent to the National budget is funded by revenue from taxes. This is a sign that Rwanda’s goal of reducing aid dependence is within reach. However, taxes tend to be a complicated issue and quite often people are looking for loopholes within the tax system to evade their responsibility. Although there are stringent laws that punish defaulters, the problem still persists and has a negative impact on the country’s development goals. Therefore, on top of conducting sensitization campaign, RRA should get closer to the various business entities and try to understand the challenges they face in being fully tax compliant. Through such a collaborative effort, both parties would come up with solutions that benefit them all. Ends

Opinions

Joint efforts can address tax compliance challenges