Tax collectors trained

KIGALI - In an effort to ensure effective local resource mobilization and management, the government, through Rwandese Association of Local Government Authority (RALGA), trained all district collectors on tax collection in collaboration of German International Cooperation (GIZ). Innocente Murasi, local economic development expert at RALGA, said the development aims at elaborating local resource mobilization strategies that can be used by tax collectors. “The move will ensure a common understanding of the most common challenges in local tax collection and management and come out with relevant solutions. Specific emphasis will be given to the procedures, process and tax enforcement,” said Murasi. According to RALGA officials, the training follows poor performance of districts in collection of decentralized taxes which have been both inefficient and ineffective. This is attributed to weak administrative procedures, poor information management systems, limited materials and human resources, lack of local resource mobilization strategies and gaps in the legislation related to local revenue collection and management. Murasi said it was discovered that most local governments rely mainly on central government transfers and this hampers their financial autonomy. “These transfers are in form of earmarked sector grants intended to fund specific local government programs and unconditional grant for general local government budget support,” she noted. Speaking at the closure of the retreat, Peter Rimmele, the Principal adviser at GIZ-Rwanda, expressed commitment to continue supporting the government financially in order to ensure maximum collection of taxes. The technical retreat also included other relevant experts from various institutions involved in Fiscal and Financial decentralization policy of Rwanda (MINECOFIN, MINALOC, RRA). Ends