‘Harness tech for revenue’

ARUSHA: VICE-PRESIDENT Deogratius Ndejembi has called on Commonwealth countries to harness technology to improve efficient and equitable domestic revenue collection, enabling them to finance development priorities from their own resources and strengthen economic self-reliance.

Mr Ndejembi made the call yesterday while representing President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan at the opening of the 46th Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) Annual Heads Meeting and Technicians Conference in Arusha.

He said technology should help governments simplify tax compliance, reduce administrative costs, improve taxpayer services, detect non-compliance more accurately and facilitate legitimate trade.

“Technology must help mobilise more domestic revenues, effectively and fairly so that our countries can increasingly finance their operations and development priorities from the domestic resources,” he said.

Mr Ndejembi said Tanzania expected to collect 36.99 tri/- in tax revenue during the 2026/27 financial year, with domestic revenue projected to finance about 74.2 per cent of the national budget.

He said the projections represented notable progress towards greater economic self-reliance and were in line with Dira 2050, which places the private sector at the centre of investment, job creation, productivity and economic growth.

“Tax policy and administration must therefore protect the revenue base while preserving the competitive environment in which businesses can invest, trade and expand with confidence,” he said.

The Vice-President said a good tax system should provide certainty, facilitate legitimate trade, encourage investment and formalisation and enable the private sector to play its central role in economic transformation.

He said taxation should support, rather than constrain, productive economic activities.

Mr Ndejembi said President Samia had consistently emphasised the use of technology, fairness, taxpayer engagement and better services in revenue administration.

He said modern systems should reduce unnecessary interactions, improve transparency, support risk-based enforcement and make tax compliance easier for taxpayers who follow the law.

He said effective revenue collection also required predictable tax policies and good governance, adding that CATA provided an important platform for member countries to learn from one another, deepen cooperation and translate international experience into measurable domestic reforms.

CATA President, Dr Abu Tariq Jamaluddin, said the association was strengthening measures to harness Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation and data analytics to make tax collection more efficient and strengthen voluntary compliance across member states.

Dr Jamaluddin said CATA had established a task force on AI deployment and a cybersecurity working group while advancing its AI and data policy toolkit for tax administrations.

He said the association had also expanded training in e-invoicing, AI, digital assets, cybersecurity and international taxation, alongside launching its first Automatic Exchange of Information Roundtable.

“These are not simply programmes and events. They are ways for us to share experience, learn from one another, build capability and accelerate reform,” he said.

Looking towards 2030, Dr Jamaluddin said AI, data analytics, automation and other emerging technologies would continue transforming tax administration, challenging member states to determine not only the technologies they adopt but also the type of tax administration they want to build.

Earlier, Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) Commissioner General, Yusuph Mwenda, said Tanzania has invested in modern systems, including the Integrated Domestic Revenue Administration System, which comprises 17 modules.

He said the system includes an Electronic Invoicing Module that enables taxpayers to issue digital fiscal receipts and invoices without the need for physical Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs).

Mr Mwenda said TRA continued to modernise its operations to build an efficient, technology-driven and intelligenceled tax administration that improves transparency and taxpayer convenience.

“TRA envisions being a customercentric and digitally driven revenue administration, including AI models,” he said.

He said digital transformation should go hand in hand with effective controls to guarantee data security, system integrity, institutional capacity and protection of taxpayers’ information.

The conference is being held under the theme: “Leveraging Technology for Efficient Revenue Collection.”