BUJUMBURA, March 7th (ABP) – As part of its mission to provide information, raise awareness and educate the public about taxation, the Burundi Revenue Office (OBR) organised an awareness-raising meeting for journalists on Friday 28 February 2025 in Bujumbura on the revenue innovations contained in the revised 2024-2025 budget law.
According to the Head of the Taxpayers and Education Department, Cyprien Ntibahanuza, the aim of the meeting was to raise journalists’ awareness so that they in turn could raise taxpayers’ awareness of the importance of paying tax and of tax compliance in order to avoid penalties for tax evasion or fraud.
He pointed out that the revised budget law will expire on 31 June 2025.
In his presentation, the head of taxpayer education, Willy Citeretse, highlighted some of the revenue-related innovations contained in the revised budget law for 2024-2025.
With regard to the right of pre-emption (of primacy), Article 73 of the said law stipulates that for the 2024/2025 budgetary management, the right of pre-emption is established in favour of the State in the event of a reduction in the sale price of buildings, whether built or not.
In that regard, he gave the example of a plot of land bought for 100 million BIF and that when the land title for the said plot was transferred, the seller and the buyer agreed to declare in the sales contract that the plot had been bought for 50 million BIF in order to pay less tax to the OBR. In that case, after investigations, if it is found that the price has been undercut, the State will pay the buyer the 50 million mentioned in the false declaration and seize the plot. That will result in a loss for the buyer.
For that reason, he urged taxpayers to always comply with the law and make true declarations.
With regard to the building permit, Article 105 of the said law stipulates that the construction of a house in urban areas, on serviced and unserviced land must first obtain a building permit subject to a building tax.
The rate of the building tax is 1‰ of the amount of the estimate validated by the skilled services. Any natural or legal person who builds within the perimeters referred to in the preceding paragraph is required to display the reference of the building permit on their building site as well as proof of payment of the building tax. The same article states that, without prejudice to payment of the tax due, failure to display the reference number of the building permit on the building site is punishable by a fine of 500,000 BIF.
The same law states that any person who begins construction without authorisation is sanctioned, in addition to the payment of 1‰ of the estimate drawn up by an authorised expert at the taxpayer’s expense by a fine of 1,000,000BIF. The terms of application of that article are set by a joint order of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Infrastructure.
Article 111 of the aforementioned law stipulates that the revenue from the sale of health assistance cards (CAM) is to be paid into the State tax system managed by the OBR. The cost of the CAM is set at 3,000 BIF. Article 115 of the same law specifies that the acquisition of a CAM is compulsory for any household that is not affiliated to any other mutual health insurance fund. That obligation also extends to any person or household that has reached the age of 18. The CAM is valid for 12 months, and the deadline for acquiring the card is 31 March each year.
A joint ministerial order issued by the Ministers of Finance and Territorial Administration respectively shall determine the terms and conditions for the application of that article.
With regard to the employment of foreign workers, Article 71 stipulates that employers who employ foreign workers are required to pay a tax of 4%, calculated on the basis of the gross annual salary of the worker concerned.
That tax, borne by the employer, is paid annually from the date on which the employment contract is approved.