BUJUMBURA April 30th (ABP) – The Burundian revenue office (OBR) organized on Tuesday April 25, 2023, a meeting for women who carry out cross-border trade, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
Mr. Stany Ngendakumana, in charge of communication in the OBR indicated that the objective of this meeting was to analyze the challenges faced by women who carry out cross-border trade.
These challenges include, among others, ignorance of the law, problems related to rape and violence as well as problems related to the mistreatment that these women suffer during their trade, he pointed out.
Indeed, following those problems, Mr. Ngendakumana reported that the OBR was able to put in place mechanisms to facilitate trade, including the establishment of a toll-free “500” number which addresses all the concerns of taxpayers during the days of service and another number “71450450”, to which anyone can call in order to be rescued in the event of difficulty or apprehension of customs or tax fraud.
In addition, he added, the OBR has also installed suggestion boxes on various offices and has made their employees aware of being at the good service of taxpayers so that they can voluntarily pay taxes and duties.
The communication officer at the OBR also pointed out that compared to the past, currently customs fraud has significantly decreased and we are witnessing many women leaving the informal postman to register first with the tax identification number.
He called on traders who persist in fraud and corruption to stop this bad practice. Mr. Ngendakumana also listed various penalties that anyone who engages in fraudulent trade may encounter, including the imprisonment of the actor, the seizure or confiscation of goods and equipment that helped in the transport. He pointed out that these sanctions have consequences firstly on the taxpayer but also on the country, because one finds oneself in public danger because the development projects assigned by the country are not properly executed.