IN an effort to promote voluntary tax compliance, Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) plans to start providing tax education to religious leaders in the country so that they can educate their followers.
This was recently announced by the TRA Commissioner General, Mr Yusuf Mwenda during his working visit to the National Muslim Council of Tanzania (BAKWATA) which is part of his ongoing engagements with various groups and institutions across the country to encourage voluntary tax compliance.
During the visit, Mr Mwenda met with Mufti of Tanzania and Chairman of BAKWATA, Sheikh Abubakar Zubeir along with other leaders of the council.
Mr Mwenda said that it was important for religious leaders to be equipped with tax knowledge as they have potential to promote voluntary tax compliance through their platforms.
“We have agreed among other things to provide tax education to BAKWATA and other religious institutions at all levels from regions to districts. We will educate religious leaders so that they can in turn educate their followers.
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Behind this council are many taxpayers and since paying taxes is an act of worship and religious institutions encourage acts of worship, promoting tax compliance will also be part of promoting worship,” said Mr Mwenda.
He added: “We will also do the same for other religious groups. Recently, I met with Bishop Ruwaichi. He is ready to cooperate with us. We will use their proposed strategies to deliver this education”.
Mr Mwenda insisted on the importance of using religious platforms, noting that they could significantly contribute to encouraging voluntary tax compliance.
“When people understand the importance of voluntary tax payment, they will continue to support it. We have every reason to do this because the benefits of taxes are clear.
Today, the country is being developed in many areas, children are studying for free and people are receiving medical treatment. All of these are made possible by taxes collected from Tanzanians and institutions across the country,” he said.
He noted that a team of experts from TRA, BAKWATA and other religious institutions would come together to create a work plan to implement the initiative.
Mr Mwenda also highlighted other issues discussed during the meeting including strengthening cooperation between TRA and religious institutions especially in promoting tax compliance and identifying challenges related to tax payment.
“We met and discussed many issues. One of them was to thank the council for our collaboration and how they have helped promote voluntary tax compliance. We also came to listen to any challenges they may face and we have requested to continue strengthening our cooperation,” he said.
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Mr Mwenda also acknowledged the significant achievements in tax compliance during the first six months of the fiscal year, attributing the success to citizens fulfilling their tax obligations urging them to continue doing so.
“We have performed very well so far because Tanzanians who are also your believers and all religious institutions have complied with tax payments. If they continue doing so, we will perform even better in the next six months,” he said.
On his part, Sheikh Abubakar Zubeir, commended TRA for its plan to provide tax education to religious leaders.
He emphasised that educating leaders on tax matters was essential for them to pass on the knowledge to their followers.
“We discussed widening the tax compliance base, including the importance of tax education for taxpayers. Through educating religious leaders will help them to prepare sermons and lectures that promote tax compliance,” he said.
Sheikh Abubakar Zubeir pledged to continue strengthening cooperation with TRA to promote voluntary tax compliance.
“The meeting was very successful. We had productive discussions about tax issues and the achievements made. We will continue to strengthen cooperation and relations between the council, TRA and Muslims. We also discussed various challenges we face and we were able to find solutions today after receiving clear explanations from the commissioner and his team,” he added.
