The Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) early next week launches a mobile platform dubbed M-Declaration in a bid to make tax declaration easier and fast among SME’s .
M-declaration, (or mobile declaration and payment of taxes) is a USSD platform able to work with Rwanda’s MTN-Mobile money, Tigo Cash or Airtel Mone, is expected to ease tax collection by over 50,000 SME’s in the country with annual turnover of between Rwf2m and Rwf500m.
With a mobile phone, a national ID card or passport and a tax-payer identification number users type *800# and follow a few basic steps to declare their taxes.
M-declaration system was developed by CMC-TATA Ltd and features a section for one to register with TIN, & Mobile No to avail the services, declaration using USSD / Apps / SMS solutions, allows users to declare previous year’s turnover, profit tax calculated for the current year, allows payment through Banks or Mobile Money, acknowledges payment, allows payments every quarter and users can too check the check the status of previous transactions. A user can also decide to use mobile money, pay over the counter or online after completing their tax declaration.
Rwanda Revenue Authority is expecting the system to increase tax collection due to its convenience, have more informal sector players registered and reduce tax evasion. There are an estimated 80,000 informal businesses in the country.
M-declaration however, is not the first service to ease tax declaration. The authority also launched E-filing and E-payment to ease compliance costs on administration and taxpayers, Electronic Single Window for easy customs clearance of goods, Electronic Cargo Tracking Equipment for cargo protection while in transit and The Gold Card scheme system to facilitate compliant taxpayers.
