The tax authority of Ethiopia, ERCA, collected 35 billion birr on the federal level over the last two quarters. The authority was also able to raise 3.2 billion birr in revenue and tax from Addis Ababa.
The tax collected met the target set by the Ethiopian government in spite of being 3 billion birr less than expected by the tax authority.
The tax raised in the last two quarter exceeds the revenue collected for the same period last year by 10.2 billion birr.
Aggressive reform programs and structural changes within ERCA are attributed with the significant increase in the money collected for tax and revenues in the country. The tax authority has also made use of a range of software linking customs and tax offices with banks improving its access to information.ERCA carried out a survey that registered thousands of businesses for tax purposes and upgraded the tax status of existing businesses to increase the number required to come under the Value Added Tax system.
The authority also required a majority of businesses to make use of electronic cash registers which will be linked to the ERCA database and fall under its authority for inspection purposes.
ERCA is in the process of commissioning a study to determine the tax potential on the national level. The study is being financed by an 11 million birr grant from the World Bank.
Source: Addis Fortune
