GITEGA, January 15th (ABP) – The Burundi Revenue Authority “OBR” continued, last Friday at the central market of Gitega (political capital and center of Burundi), its field visits to inquire about the progress of the process of payment of taxes by taxpayers.
The Commissioner in charge of domestic taxes within the OBR, Mr. Déo Hatungimana, first discussed with the governor of Gitega, Mr. Venant Manirambona on the involvement of the OBR and the administration in the collection of taxes from taxpayers working at the central market of Gitega.
During that visit organized in the company of the Communal Administrator of Gitega, Dr. Jacques Nduwimana, the Commissioner in charge of domestic taxes at the OBR, Mr. Déo Hatungimana and his delegation noted that there are many traders (more than 1000 traders) who do not have contracts, others who have them, but who are irregular in the payment of taxes and duties. It was noted that there is another category of traders who do not have contracts while the latter have been available at the Gitega agency for a long time.
Faced with this observation, Mr. Hatungimana said that the commune and the country are recording a huge loss. To that end, he granted a period of 10 days to traders without contracts to sign them and regularize debts because they are available at the OBR agency in Gitega. After this deadline, he said, other measures will be taken against these traders.
The other observation is that taxpayers who have electronic invoicing machines do not use them properly. These traders also use paper invoice machines while a taxpayer who has this machine is strictly prohibited from using the paper invoice machine. Once caught selling their goods without issuing the invoice, they are fined in accordance with the tax law, the commissioner in charge of domestic taxes at the OBR said.
Based on this observation, Mr. Hatungimana called on buyers not to accept items without invoices because this contributes to tax evasion. He pointed out that every trader is obliged to give invoices to their customers. He indicated that the OBR will organize more awareness sessions on the payment of taxes and duties because, he said, it has been noted that many taxpayers are unaware of the tax law.