New digital tax due by April

Amendments to the Value Added Tax Act passed by Parliament in August are awaiting assent by President Duma Boko. The Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) is meanwhile working around the clock to prepare for the changes, with deputy secretary of financial policy, Boikanyo Mathipa, saying the law would likely kick in “around March or April 2026”.

“The service providers will have to firstly register with BURS as registered persons, and they will also have to modify their systems so that when they provide a service to consumers in Botswana, they charge VAT,” she told the media on Tuesday. “BURS also has to be prepared to register these service providers and to receive VAT from them. So we are thinking that maybe we can look at the Act commencing by March or April 2026.”