BUJUMBURA, December 6th (ABP) – The Burundi Revenue Office (OBR) celebrated Taxpayers’ Day on Tuesday 3 December 2024. That day was organised under the theme: ‘Turihe neza, amakori n’amatagisi, dushike ku Burundi butey’imbere.’ (Tax education as a lever for achieving the national vision).
In his speech, the Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Audace Niyonzima, said that that day was an opportunity to remind all Burundians to adopt better behaviour in order to pay taxes properly. He pointed out that the obligation to pay taxes promotes the country’s development, especially for developing countries such as Burundi.
The finance minister welcomed that year’s theme, which reflects the vision of Burundi emerging in 20240 and developed in 20260, so that all Burundians can contribute to achieving that vision. For him, the taxpayer is of paramount importance in Burundi because, not only does he pay tax, but he is also the source of the country’s development, provides work for citizens, develops himself and contributes to the development of his own family. He therefore congratulated all taxpayers who have understood the advantages of paying tax in order to contribute to the country’s development.
However, he deplored the fact that there are those who do not want to change their mentality in order to contribute to the country’s economic growth. Those include some tax return filers, tax advisers and OBR staff who engage in fraud, corruption, theft and embezzlement. He urged them to cut short that bad behaviour and to work in accordance with the law. If not, he warned, the State will adopt rigorous measures to punish them severely.
He appreciated the step already taken by the OBR from 2010 until now, while encouraging it to make a greater effort to collect as many taxes as possible in order to increase the funds entering the public treasury.
With regard to the problems facing Burundi, such as the shortage of fuel and foreign currency, Niyonzima revealed that all we have to do is work hard and know how to exploit the wealth that God has given us in order to create industries. We also need to focus on agriculture and livestock farming, and much more on growing commercial and industrial crops in order to export them so that we can earn foreign currency and use it to buy all our needs,’ he said.