BURS tax target rises to P66bn
Mbongeni Mguni | Monday February 23, 2026 06:07
The enactment of higher tax rates for personal income, corporates and the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) companies, as well as the reduction in the number of goods and services zero-rated for VAT, is also expected to boost collections.
Draft estimates published by the Finance Ministry as part of the 2026–2027 budget documents indicate that the BURS’ targets for the upcoming year represent a near nine percent increase on the collections target for the 2025–2026 financial year, which ends on March 31. In absolute figures, the draft estimates suggest the BURS is tasked with collecting P5.19 billion more in the 2026–2027 financial year.
Helping the taxman’s cause in the upcoming financial year will be the expected roll-out of VAT e-billing from April, after a more than three-year pilot period. Electronic billing involves the issuance of electronic invoices using a billing system that transmits sales information, including VAT charged, in real time to the BURS Electronic Billing Data Management system. The billing systems will be connected to the BURS Billing Data Management System for managing and monitoring both sale and purchase transactions.
The e-billing system, for which the BURS benchmarked as far as Rwanda, is expected to curb leakages and maximise revenue. For the upcoming financial year, the BURS expects to rake in P15.1 billion in VAT, from an estimated P13.7 billion in 2025-2026.
“The rollout of electronic invoicing, which is anticipated in April 2026, will enable real-time transaction monitoring, strengthen compliance, reduce leakages and significantly enhance revenue assurance as part of the broader digital transformation of tax administration,” Finance Minister Ndaba Gaolathe said recently in presenting the 2026 Budget Speech.
The BURS’ VAT collections will also receive a boost from the planned digital services tax, which is being introduced as a form of VAT on local consumers of digital services such as Netflix and Amazon, as well as remote services such as external attorneys.
Under the new legislation, non-resident providers of digital and remote services to consumers within Botswana will be required to register for VAT and remit this to the government. The approach essentially means digital services such as Netflix, Alibaba, as well as applicable products from Google, Apple, and Meta, will now attract VAT paid by consumers in the country.
Local consumers wishing to secure remote services such as attorneys and accountants or data services will also incur the VAT charge under the new law. BURS has said it plans to use IP addresses and banking details to capture any Botswana-based consumer of digital and remote services.
The BURS is also banking on higher taxes due to be introduced on corporate and personal incomes, as well as IFSC companies. Under legislation set to be debated in the current sitting of Parliament, the corporate income tax rate is due to increase by three percentage points, whilst the rate for IFSC companies will increase from 15% to 17.5%.
The Finance ministry also wants to reduce the number of goods and services zero-rated for VAT, heeding a suggestion that has been repeatedly made by the International Monetary Fund, amongst others.
Zero-rated goods include millet grain, millet meal, wheat grain, maize cobs, flour, sugar, maize meal, as well as cooking oil, LPG gas, white bread, salt and others.
Commenting on the changes, Gaolathe said taxation should not be viewed as punishment.
“It is a collective investment in our shared development. “Improving revenue performance is not simply about raising tax rates. “It is primarily about deploying smarter systems and building the institutional capacity required for effective revenue mobilisation,” he said.