BURS loses P1m to cigarette smuggling
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday January 26, 2015 17:17
In a recently released 2013 annual report, BURS decried that smuggling and non-declaration of goods has resulted in lost revenue, estimated at P947,916 from duties and taxes charged on cigarettes in the year.
In the period, BURS seized 167 master cases and 44 cartons of, among others, Remington Gold, Everest, Madison, Kingsgate and Servilles.
During the year under review, customs officials intercepted 716 persons attempting to import goods into Botswana illegally. The revenue recovered in terms of taxes and charges amounted to P2million.
“There is a rising trend of transit fraud, whereby goods were declared for transit at the ports of entry but ended up being diverted into Botswana and being consumed inside Botswana,” the BURS report said.
To address this problem, a decision has been taken that all transit entries should be entered into the system so that acquittal would be done through the system, which is more effective.
BURS also faced a major challenge in collecting old arrears, as some taxpayers could no longer be located.
“BURS collected through court action, a total of P154,356. The main challenges in collecting more debts are untraceable taxpayers, lack of property that can be attached by deputy sheriffs, deceased or relocated taxpayers, closed companies and dishonoured cheques,” read the statement.
The statement further highlighted that there were few taxpayer auditors to perform adequate audits and the complexity of large business transactions and operations were a concern for BURS.
On another note BURS continued to face lawsuits filled by taxpayers and other persons aggrieved by BURS decisions. A total of 39 objections were received and handled. Of these, 27 were settled during the period under review while 12 remained outstanding.
“It is however disheartening to note that some taxpayers were still bent on not reporting taxes appropriately. BURS will continue to investigate and apply punitive measures against those who fail to report their taxes accordingly.”
Meanwhile, BURS board chairperson Dr Taufila Nyamadzabo emphasised that taxes were becoming increasingly essential for enabling the economy to fund social and economic infrastructure to meet the needs of people and business.
“The tax system has become competitive to attract business, talents and more conducive to ensure start-ups of SMMEs. Over time these bring more investments and jobs to Botswana,” he said.
Tlokweng Gate border post remained the busiest processing 57 percent import declarations during the period under review. The lowest number of import declarations processed was at Jwaneng inland office.
However, BURS continued to attend international tax forums to ensure that the tax administration remained relevant and alive to new and emerging tax issues and challenges.