Seventy percent of tax revenue in Ethiopia comes from less than one thousand people according to the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority in a workshop for small business owners in Addis Ababa. 
962 taxpayers classified as large were responsible for raising more than two-thirds of the tax revenue collected last year explained the tax authority.
The workshop was designed to answer a range of questions on the tax system with officials from the ERCA and the Addis Ababa Micro and Small Enterprises Development Office explaining the details of the tax system.
Participants at the workshop numbering more than 1500 raised issues related with perceived lack of a level playing field, legal framework governing the tax status of micro enterprises and legal receipts for some commodities.The questions in regards to the tax exempt status of micro enterprises were met with explanations of the three year grace period enjoyed by such ventures.
All enterprises that are profit oriented are required to pay tax in spite of gaps in education on the tax law said Awol Mohammed, a Senior Officer with AAMSEDO.
The tax officials also claimed to be aware of problems in regards to the issue of legal receipts.
The tax authority is exerting effort to solve the problems but requires the help of legal business people to further control illegal trading according to Anteneh Tesfaye, Team leader of Sales Register Machine Administration and Implementation with ERCA.
ERCA is in the process of developing a mechanism to allow for the trade of some construction materials that are currently being traded without receipts he said.
Source: Capital
