{"id":5207,"date":"2019-09-10T10:11:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T07:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=5207"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:30:32","slug":"leveraging-on-tax-education-to-boost-africas-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2019\/09\/10\/leveraging-on-tax-education-to-boost-africas-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Leveraging On Tax Education To Boost Africa\u2019s Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By A<\/em><\/strong>imee\nDushime & Gifty Asmah Lama<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years most African countries have depended heavily\non foreign aid and other forms of foreign support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This situation of dependency by most African countries has\nnot led to development nor has it alleviated extreme poverty from the\ncontinent. Most developed nations such as USA, China, Germany, Canada, etc.,\ndepend heavily on domestic revenue to provide basic services to its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shows that self-reliant states are capable of\nachieving economic growth and development, which create job opportunities for\nthe youth and relieve citizens from extreme poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, in Africa, countries such as Rwanda, Mauritius,\namong others, that are gradually moving towards enhancing domestic revenue\nmobilization growth are becoming sustainable than those which are heavily\ndonor-dependent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Africa holding the world\u2019s youngest population by\n2050, it is essential that the younger populations are aware of the importance\nof taxes in nation-building, economic growth and poverty minimization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2015 Organization for Economic Co-operation and\nDevelopment (OECD)\/ International and Ibero-American Foundation for\nAdministration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) report revealed that most\ndeveloping countries and least developed countries are striving more than ever\nbefore to generate more tax revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In light of the shrinking donor support, a country\u2019s own\nresources are needed to achieve sustainable development, minimize poverty rate,\nreduce inequalities, improve public services, and build infrastructure for\ninclusive growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a starting point, one of the practical ways of promoting\ndomestic resource mobilization is to foster an overall culture of tax\ncompliance that is based on citizens\u2019 rights and responsibilities, where\ncitizens\u2019 view paying taxes as an essential part of their relationship with the\ngovernment and at the same time hold the government accountable for taxes paid\nto them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an attempt to promote tax literacy in Liberia, the\nLiberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has put in place tax education programs but\nperhaps due to limited resources, LRA has not fully exploited tax education\nplatforms such as the media, schools, churches, etc. Unfortunately, statistics\nfrom the LRA has shown that despite the efforts made, domestic revenue\ncollection by LRA for the past five years has on average been 450.9 million\nUnited States dollars while the average approved target for the past five years\nhas been 473.5 million United States dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparably, tax revenue collections by Rwanda Revenue\nAuthority (RRA) for the 2018\/19 fiscal year amounted to Rwf 1398.8 billion\ncompared to the targeted Rwf 1373.1 billion which is means that it collected\nRwf 25.7 billion above the target. For the 2019\/2020 fiscal year, RRA projects\ncollections of up to Rwf1, 535.8 billion, representing 54.1 per cent of the\nnational budget which is Rwf2, 876.9 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps this is an indication that in the near future,\nRwanda\u2019s budget will primarily be financed domestically. Importance of\nTaxpayers\u2019 education Taxpayers\u2019 education is vital and there is a need for both\ngovernment and tax administration to develop innovative taxpayer\u2019s education\nprograms and campaigns that will inform and engage both the current and\npotential taxpayers. It is very important that the next generations are aware\nof taxes and its importance to the economic growth of any country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, there have been success stories from\ncountries around the world on the impact of tax education initiatives in\ncountries like Kenya, Morocco, Mexico, Malaysia, and El Salvador, (OECD,\nFIIAPP, 2015).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evidence from Kenya Revenue Authority shows that within\nthree years (2012-2015) over 25,000 students and 400 teachers were reached\nthrough these outreach programs which led to a positive recognition and\nappreciation of the benefit of taxes by more citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taxpayer education programs should not merely be used as a\nstrategy for collecting more revenue or as an opportunity to exclusively\nexplain why taxes should be paid. Rather, revenue authorities should reinforce\ntax education programs with the aim of strengthening attitudes of commitment to\nthe common good by emphasizing the social value of tax and its relation to\npublic expenditure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of taxation cannot be overemphasized as\neconomic analysis have shown that taxation remains a strong socio-political and\neconomic tool for economic growth and national prosperity. As such, African\ngovernments should invest heavily in revenue authorities around the continent\nto who will in turn educate citizens on their responsibilities and obligations.\nSimilarly, the attitude of transparency and accountability should be embraced by\ngovernments across the continent so as to motivate current and future\ntaxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read\noriginal\narticle<\/a> on the\nnew times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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