Tanzania Revenue Authority touts Electronic Tax Stamps use at Mbeya TBL Plant
Mbeya. Tanzania Revenue Authority urged manufacturers on Friday, October 11, 2019 to abide by the law and adopt the use of Electronic Tax Stamps (ETS) in their operations.
Commissioner General Edwin Mhede said all taxpayers, who were obligated to adopt the ETS, must do so because the stamps were beneficial to both the taxman and manufacturers alike.
He was speaking during a factory tour at a plant for Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) in Mbeya.
During the tour, he got firsthand information on how the ETS works.
“My message to other manufacturers is that they must adopt the use of ETS as required by laws and procedures governing tax. The ETS helps to improve production efficiency,” said Dr Mhede.
The ETS enables the government to use modern technology to obtain production data timely from manufacturers.
The first phase of the project – being rolled out by a Swiss firm, Société Industrielle et Commerciale de Produits Alimentaires (SICPA) - was launched on January 15, this year (2019) during which period, electronic stamps were installed in 19 companies that produce alcohol, wines and spirits across the country. Phase 2 of the project, which saw electronic stamps being installed on products such as sweetened or flavoured waters and other nonalcoholic beverages began on August 1, 2019.
According to Dr Mhede, the system also enables manufacturers to get the quantity of products that were being imported into the market, a vital step that informs local manufacturers on what they should do to protect their products from imports.
“The ETS is not only about tax projections. It also helps the manufacturers to get precise information about his production volume and time spent on producing it. It will also help to know challenges associated with his production processes and this be able to work on the solution to the identified challenges,” he said.
He said under normal circumstances, it was possible that some challenges associated with the use of any new technological system would be identified.
“But it is only when they are put to use that we can identify the challenges and see how to improve them. It is not a bad thing to improve a system when it is established to have some challenges,” he said.
TBL Mbeya Plant manager, Mr Godwin Fabian, said the beer making firm remained confident that with the ETS in use, manufacturers were able to easily identify if fake and smuggled products find their way into the market.
“My message to other manufacturers is that they should see this to be a good thing because if ETS is installed on every product, we will be able to know the products that get into the market illegally and thus be able to curb their influx,” he said.
