Stakeholders laud Premier’s order on electronic stamps

Dodoma. A decision by the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, that all liquor producers must start using Electronic Tax Stamps (ETS) by February 28, is welcome, stakeholders have said.

Winding up the just ended parliamentary sessions here on Friday, last week, Mr Majaliwa directed the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to ensure that the liquor producers start using ETS by the end of this month.

Reacting to the move, the chairman for a Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Trade and Environment, Mr Suleiman Saddiq, lauded the move, but called on the government to get rid of paper stamps, most of which are, not genuine.

He said the government should act to curb fake excise duty stickers on liquor across the country, expressing his dismay as to why little has been achieved since September last year when the ETS was to be officially rolled out.

“It is high time the paper tax stamps on liquor came to an end immediately,” he said.

The MP opined that TRA has not done much on the move that will see the government collect more revenues.

A liquor manufacturer, who did not want to be named, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the government’s move was commendable, adding that it would result into an increase in tax collection.

He said it was unfortunate that removing paper stamps has taken too long.

“Currently, we have some manufacturers using ETS and some using paper stamps, something which nobody really knows whether they are genuine or fake,” he said.

Presenting the 2018/19 budget in Parliament in June last year, the Finance and Planning minister, Dr Phillip Mpango, said the ETS will enable the government to use a modern technology to obtain production data timely from manufacturers.

The move is also intended to curb revenue leakages and make it possible to determine in advance the amount of taxes to be paid.