BUJUMBURA December 10th (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye enhanced with his presence the ceremonies marking the celebration of the 10th edition of Taxpayer Day, organized by the Burundian Revenue Office (OBR), under the auspices of theme “Let’s use modern technology for online declaration and payment of taxes, let’s support the development of the country”, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
In his speech, the Head of State asked the OBR and the CFCIB (Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Burundi), to organize monthly evaluation meetings, and to submit them to him for see how they are working in the new telepayment and teledeclaration system.
He recalled that money from taxes contributes to the construction of roads, schools, hospitals and other development projects, urging the OBR to collect taxes properly and raise awareness the Burundians on the importance of paying taxes, so that all Burundian citizens know their importance. That will make it possible to achieve the government’s vision of seeing Burundi emerge in 2040 and develop in 2060, said the Head of State.
On that occasion, he deplored at length the bad behavior observed among certain leaders who engage in tax and customs fraud, and called on them to abandon that bad path, but rather, to work for the interest of the people and manage wealth well.
He asked the Burundian Revenue Office (OBR) to concentrate all its efforts to collect the maximum amount of taxes and fees, in order to increase the funds entering the public treasury, by working in accordance with the law and in avoiding theft and corruption.
For his part, the Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Audace Niyonzima recalled that the government of Burundi has opted for the establishment of an electronic invoicing system. That is an automated system for collecting and managing billing data from taxpayers, which will allow the OBR to monitor in real time transactions between taxpayers and the OBR, in order to increase revenue and reduce tax evasion.
According to him, that system makes it possible to significantly reduce the informal sector, to monitor and control in real time the transactions carried out by taxpayers and to easily verify the authenticity of invoices during tax audits.
The Commissioner General of the OBR, Jean Claude Manirakiza, for his part announced that that year’s theme corresponds to a vast project undertaken in August 2023 to create a system of electronic declaration and online payment of taxes on the “Umutangakori portal”.
According to him, that electronic declaration and electronic payment system is part of the process of digitalization of OBR services and operates 24 hours a day. It is carried out wherever you are and the receipt is delivered electronically. The advantages of that system are multiple and all converge on securing operations and data, he said.
In addition, he added, the taxpayer who uses that system securely keeps the history of his declarations and payments, and as a result, the risks of theft and loss of time and money are reduced.
Mr. Manirakiza also indicated that the taxpayers who were targeted are those falling into the category of large and medium taxpayers, that is to say those with an annual turnover of 100 million BIF and more. He also specified that since the initiation of that system, on August 1, 2023, 2,833 taxpayers have been integrated into the database. Until September 2023, the workforce stood at 3,000. Among them, 2,896 have already joined the system, or 81% membership.
For the month of October, on the monthly revenue forecast which was 163.33 billion Fbu, the OBR was able to collect 165.10 billion Fbu, i.e. a collection rate of 101.08%, while in September collections were of 185.7 billion against 172.3 billion expected.
It is therefore on those performances of collection of revenues born from the Umutangakori portal that they are celebrating that 10th edition of Taxpayer’s Day, he indicated.