Home Business & Tech Rwanda Surpasses Revenue Target by Rwf. 8.7 billion

Rwanda Surpasses Revenue Target by Rwf. 8.7 billion

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1:05 pm

Richard Tusabe, Rwanda Revenue Commissioner General

Rwanda’s tax revenue collected for fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017 hit a new record of Rwf1103.0 billion fetched compared to a target of Rwf 1094.3 billion.

This represents an increase of Rwf. 8.7 billion above the target, making an achievement of 100.8%.

At the same time, tax revenue collection was Rwf1, 086.8 billion while the target was Rwf1081.4 billion; this is an achievement of 100.5%, and an excess of Rwf 5.4 billion over the target.

Taxes posted a growth of 10.2% during FY 2016/17 compared to FY 2015/16 performance of Rwf, 986.7 billion this makes a nominal increase of Rwf 100.2 billion.

Rwanda Revenue Commissioner General, Richard Tusabe said that the performance was as a result of tax education and reforms.

“Economic indicators weren’t good but we achieved a target because of efficiency and continuous taxpayer education. I extend our utmost appreciation to the taxpaying community for honoring their tax obligations,” Tusabe said.

The slow economic performance is attributed to poor agricultural production due to bad weather also food scarcities accounted for inflationary pressures with price indices for food and non-alcoholic beverages reaching a record high 18.6%.

Subsequently, revenue from domestic excise duty decreased by 7.2%, equivalent to Rwf 5.2 billion in nominal terms as increased prices of food left consumers with less money to spend on non-essential goods.

Other factors that had a negative effect on tax performance include the slowdown in CIF growth of imports, especially in non-EAC imports and lower taxable sales as a proportion of turnover because of increases in exempt sales and exports.

This achievement of the revenue target confirms the potential that RRA has to effectively and optimally mobilise the revenue needed to finance Rwanda’s development goals.