*Collects Rwf 86.2bn in 1st Quarter under EAC fiscal year

KIGALI - Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), the national body charged with tax and non-tax revenue collection, managed to surpass its target for the 1st Quarter under the East African Community fiscal year, collecting Rwf 86.2bn between July and September 2009.

Announcing the first quarterly tax results following the country’s integration into the EAC fiscal year yesterday, the RRA Commissioner General, Mary Baine, also revealed that the body recorded an estimated shortfall of Rwf 1bn in customs collections following the implementation of the EAC Customs Union.

"As you are all aware, this is the first quarter under the EAC fiscal year. The government had set us a target of Rwf 85.3bn and we managed to collect Rwf86.2bn, meaning that we surpassed the target by Rwf1bn,” Baine told the Press Conference at RRA Head offices.

She added that for the period between July and September, the body collected a total of Rwf1.7bn instead of a set target of Rwf1.5bn as non-tax revenue.

The money consists of different monies paid through RRA for services offered by public institutions as well as fines for different offences.

"This overall performance can be attributed to the fact that we managed to make many people comply and pay their duties, and also the fact that payment of Value Added Tax increased in the last quarter. This can also be attributed to the many payment points we have established countrywide,” Baine explained.

Direct taxes contributed about Rwf 32.2bn which equals over 37 percent while taxes on goods and services contributed Rwf 46.4bn amounting to 54 percent while taxes on International trade amounted to Rwf 7.6bn.

"Whether joining the EAC Customs Union has had a huge impact on the revenue collected, I think in three months we should not feel a major  impact, but overall, we incurred a shortfall of approximately Rwf1bn. We had a target of Rwf7.4bn and we managed to collect Rwf 6.1bn in the last three months,” Baine revealed.

Meanwhile it was reported that between January and August, a total of 2800 new taxpayers were registered especially small and medium tax payers. Currently there are 315 in the category of large tax payers as well as 22,000 small and medium taxpayers.

Baine added that more focus will be put on encouraging and making it possible for small and medium tax payers to be compliant in the next quarter through different sensitisation and awareness campaigns to address the issue of non-compliance.

"We want to create an atmosphere where the Private sector finds it an obligation to pay taxes and rather not look at it as a burden such that the Public sector can also provide the necessary infrastructure to improve the business climate. This is a major objective,” Baine noted.

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