The Parliamentary Committee on Governance and Gender Affairs has expressed concern over citizens who continue to pay taxes on land even after selling it. MPs said the issue concerned landowners who sell their land to different people, and they asked to pay taxes when they no longer own the land. During a session with the Ministry of Environment and the National Land Authority on March 10, Members of Parliament said the National Land Authority should collaborate with the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) to address these issues. MP Salama Uwamurera stated that the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) continues to collect taxes on land even after it has been sold. ALSO READ: Revised policy on land, rental tax to take effect in February 2024 “For example, when a piece of land is sold and subdivided into three parcels, each receiving a unique parcel identifier (UPI), the RRA still charges taxes on the original UPI (which belonged to former owner of the sold parcel). This issue needs to be addressed so that taxes are correctly assigned to the new owners,” she said. Uwamurera further pointed out that a piece of land initially designated for agriculture can be sold and subdivided, resulting in different land use classifications, which in turn leads to varying tax rates. “It's still a problem. Once sold and subdivided, a single plot can end up with three different classifications: industrial, residential, and agricultural when it originally had only one UPI with a single classification,” she explained. ALSO READ: RRA opens 2024 immovable property tax declarations MP Donatha Gihana emphasized the need for digitizing land services. “Land services should leverage technology to ensure efficiency and make sure services are provided within at least two days to avoid delays. Additionally, citizens should have clear information on when their requested services will be delivered,” she said. The Minister of Environment, Valentine Uwamariya, commented that some citizens sell their land without first settling outstanding tax arrears, while others fail to complete the transfer process after selling. ALSO READ: Three arrested over land transfer fraud: How it unfolded “While land transfer must be initiated by the owner, some people sell their land but do not immediately transfer it to the new owner. In some cases, a single piece of land may be sold to multiple buyers without being officially transferred. Some individuals delay or avoid the transfer process to evade the associated costs,” Uwamariya stated. The minister also highlighted that delays in land service delivery are often due to the need for careful handling of land-related disputes. “Service delivery timelines depend on the nature of the issue and the type of service requested. When dealing with people’s properties, we must be thorough. Sometimes, we need to go back to the community or sector level to verify information, or a person may request land services with incomplete documents. However, this does not mean we should rush the process at the expense of accuracy,” she explained. ALSO READ: Electronic land titles helping to check fraud – official Regarding land service digitization, Grace Nishimwe, Director General of the National Land Authority and Chief Registrar of Land Titles, stated that the Land Administration Information System (LAIS) has already integrated all Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) services and will help solve the issues in land transactions. “Since last February, RRA services have been linked to LAIS, and we are monitoring its functionality. As of now, any transaction processed in LAIS is immediately communicated to the RRA system. Although we are not yet in the peak period for tax payments, we are assessing how this integration is addressing people’s concerns,” she added. ALSO READ: Rwanda to deploy new system for improved land services Nishimwe further explained that in the next phase of the system upgrade, the National Land Authority aims to integrate LAIS with Irembo to streamline the land transfer process and eliminate the need for citizens to provide past tax receipts manually. “Currently, during land transfers, people are still required to present past tax receipts. In the next phase, we want to eliminate this step by linking LAIS to Irembo, ensuring that all tax-related information is readily accessible,” she stated. Nishimwe further explained how the land administration tracking information system (LATIS) will help address delays in land service delivery. ALSO READ: What you need to know about termination of land ownership contracts “People request services through districts and Irembo. We are working on how the tracking system can resolve delays by allowing people to track their land files and stay informed about the progress. We introduced LATIS at the district and sector level, and we are looking forward to linking it to Irembo,” she stated. In an interview with The New Times, Ernest Karasira, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Provincial and Decentralized Revenue Division at RRA, explained that the current system automatically blocks further ownership transfers when a purchase occurs. “Previously, buyers had to visit RRA for new ownership recognition. However, since a week and a half ago, the system has been automatically updating ownership details. Within one to two weeks, the new owner's name will be updated in our system upon sale following some corrections being made at the Irembo level,” he added.
