Burundi’s newly appointed Finance Minister, Nestor Ntahontuye, has urged the senior officials of the Burundi Revenue Authority (OBR) to intensify efforts to collect all legally mandated revenues.
In a meeting with high-ranking members of the OBR on Friday, Ntahontuye highlighted the significant shortcomings in the collection of taxes, particularly the Value Added Tax (VAT), which he said is being collected at a rate of only 20%. He stressed the need to ensure that all taxes, including those from kiosks, stands, and businesses such as bars and restaurants, are properly enforced.
“These taxes should be collected in full accordance with the law,” said Minister Ntahontuye. “If these taxes are not paid, the law will be applied, and the appropriate sanctions will follow.”
The minister’s comments come at a time when Burundi is grappling with an ongoing economic crisis that has led to several key changes in government leadership, including the recent replacement of the Finance Minister Audace Niyonzima and the head of the OBR, Jean Claude Manirakiza. The reshuffling followed a scandal in which over 110 billion Burundian francs disappeared over a four-month period, raising serious concerns over the country’s financial stability.
Ntahontuye’s call for stricter tax enforcement aligns with President Évariste Ndayishimiye’s push to recover unpaid revenues. Earlier this week, Ndayishimiye ordered the OBR to collect overdue taxes from delinquent taxpayers within two weeks.
In a similar move, the finance chief sent a letter on Thursday to the Minister of Justice requesting better collaboration in collecting taxes on notary and lawyer fees. Despite a prior request in November 2023, the tax remains unpaid, with notaries and lawyers still collecting it from clients, according to Minister Ntahontuye.
He stressed that the tax must be declared and paid by the 15th of the following month. To enforce compliance, he urged the Justice Ministry to require lawyers to present a tax clearance certificate from the Burundi Revenue Authority before representing clients, and to include it in case files for tax audits
The meeting on Friday follows a similar one held earlier in the week between the Finance Minister and his colleagues from the Interior and Justice ministries, where they collectively vowed to tackle tax evasion and recover the country’s unpaid revenues.
In response to the growing economic challenges, the Council of Ministers also adopted a revised 2024-2025 budget, reducing overall resources from an initial 4.6 trillion Burundian francs to 4.21 trillion, reflecting a decrease of nearly 9%.
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