TRA irked by tax evading traders
According to Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), officials here, despite the introduction of the East African single custom territory that is harmonized through one stop border post some domestic traders have not actively taken the advantage.
They have continued with their old tax evasion tricks at the main Sirari border post in Tarime district.
Mara Region TRA Manager Ernest Nkangaza told the ‘Daily news’ in Musoma over the weekend that most traders have been importing goods through unofficial entry points by using different tricks including using motorbikes.
At times, notwithstanding the revenue setbacks, the manager noted ‘’the smuggled consignments have questionable quality and would have been impounded by Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), and Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA).
He said they had continuously directed traders in the region to comply with all imports and exports regulations including paying taxes without cohesion and make own marketing arrangements in advance to avoid unnecessary problems with TRA officials at border posts.
‘’We have also identified some businessmen who are not honest enough when using various importation permits.
Some transfer them to other traders who are not registered with tax identification numbers (TIN’s), especially in food importation and other East African tax harmonized products’’ Concerning regional tax collection Mr Nkangaza explained that towards the end of October 2015, the institution collected some 6.3bn/- in revenues compared to 5.2b/- in 2014 although the figures dropped to 5.2b/- in November 2015.
