2merkato

The Ethiopian Sugar Corporation announced plans to raise national sugar production from 300 thousand to 2.25 million tonnes annually. The corporation has begun extensive efforts towards increased sugar production according to Yilma Tibebu Corporation Public Head.

Expansion projects have begun at Metehara, Wonji Shoa, Methera sugar factories to increase sugar production according to Yilma. The increase in production hopes to meet demands for sugar in the local market as well increasing exports to the global market.

The tax authority in Ethiopia is maintaining its drive to register businesses for value-added taxation across the country.

In Oromia Regional State businesses are being asked to install cash registers for the first time while regional towns are coming under the scrutiny again.

In Adama, Bishoftu and Duken out of an estimated 1, 151 businesses identified for VAT registration only 28.3% have complied by January of 2012.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority collected 22.26 billion birr in revenue in the first quarter of the current financial year it announced.

The revenue raised by the authority was 103.57% of the21.49 billion birr it had projected for the fiscal period explained Ephraim Mekonnen, Head of the Public Relations Department of ERCA.

The performance registered by the authority over this period was 6.2 billion birr more than the amount it had collected during the same period in the previous financial year explained Ephraim.

A significant percentage of the authority’s income was raised from indirect taxes such as the Value Added Tax, Excise Tax and Turnover Tax which together raised 16.13 billion birr making up 72.47% of the total revenue collected by the authority over the quarter. 

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.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority is ready to introduce a new customs management software system expected to cost an estimated 162 million birr. The new IT system will replace the Automated Systems for Customs and Data currently being used by the authority.  

ERCA decided to change its current technology installed in 12 years ago because it is not able to accommodate the new systems required as part of the customs reform program according to Nigussie Seid, Team Coordinator for Software Development with the authority.

The current system is unable to integrate or interface with the custom reforms that are underway he explained.