RRA tips Sierra Leone tax body on taxation

A delegation from Sierra Leone National Revenue Authority is in the country to share taxation experiences with Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA). Allieu Sesay, Commissioner General Sierra Leone National Revenue Authority said they were in the country partly because they have a lot in common with Rwanda. He cited the size, history and development agendas as some of the similarities. “We believe Rwanda is a country we can learn from since we have similar problems such as a sizeable informal sector and poor taxpayer compliance amongst some sectors as challenges facing the taxing institutions,” he remarked. He said their mission is to see how they can avoid future mistakes and learn more about modernisation to help streamline their taxation regime. Mary Baine, commissioner general RRA said taxation challenges are not unique to Rwanda alone, but rather universal to all tax administrations. She said RRA will in May this year celebrating 10 years of existence but hastened to note that positioning RRA to where it is today was a tough job. The tax body had to make major reforms which included: modernisation, revenue mobilisation, establishment of new institutions, having well structured programmes and a clear legal framework. The move has seen the tax collection ever increase and today taxes fund 50 per cent of the national budget. To Baine, this has been possible partly because of computerisation of the Customs & Excise and the Domestic Tax Departments and training both staff and tax payers. Dumping To avoid dumping and tax evasion, Baine told the visiting delegation that RRA works closely with the private sector, has invested in the revenue protection department and gets help from security agencies to enforce. Ease tax payment By the end of this year, taxpayers will start making their declarations on line. “This will reduce both the time and costs while filing tax returns”. Charles Lwanga, director planning and research, said tax collection has increased from Frw68.7 billion in 1998 to Frw246 billion in 2007. Ends