Rwanda Revenue Authority will by Friday 24th April have disbursed Rwf 13B in Value Added Tax refunds to businesses in response to capital challenges amidst the COVID19 pandemic.

This is one of the mitigation measures by the government to improve the local business ecosystem for local operators in an attempt to cushion them from the pandemic’s effects.

A statement released by The Ministry of Trade and Industry noted that the government is mulling ways to enable the trade and manufacturing sectors ride out the crisis. The two sectors are among the most severely impacted.

Among the measures include fast-tracking Value Added Tax refunds owed to businesses especially Small and Medium Enterprises.

Commissioner for Domestic Taxes, Aimable Kayigi told The New Times that so far about Rwf 9.5B has since been disbursed with the balance of Rwf 3.5B to be disbursed by the end of this week.

By making the refunds, firms will have more capital available to revamp and restart their enterprises and value chains especially with the anticipation of end of the lockdown period.

Tax refunds come about after having taxes withheld on earnings that amount to more than what a person owes in income taxes for a calendar year.

To process the refunds, RRA cross-checks the documents of the taxes filed and verifies the cause of over-payment to discover the surplus amount.

Rwanda Revenue Authority in March also extended the deadline to file and pat Corporate Income Tax by two weeks for large taxpayers (which lapsed mid-April) and till 30th April for Small and Medium Taxpayers.

The agency said that they work with law enforcement authorities to get clearance for firms working on filing and paying CIT.

A broader facilitation package is being finalized for all manufacturers and businesses hit by the global pandemic. The Special Fund will also be launched in May.