The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan Is Upset By Tax Evasion Businessmen

‘Baraza la Idd’ was held in Dar es Salaam with President Samia Suluhu Hassan talking about various tax payment issues, the elections in the country that will be free and fair

Dar es Salaam. The President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, is disappointed with the businessmen involved in tax evasion, while his Government announced that it would separate itself from unjust taxes to give them a good opportunity to pay taxes in accordance with the law.

Apart from that, President Samia has assured Tanzanians that the Government he leads has planned to manage the Local Government elections this year in accordance with the relevant election laws and will not be a source of hostility.

President Samia said this on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in Dar es Salaam while addressing the Idd El Fitr Council as part of the Idd holiday celebrations. Various political and governmental leaders have participated in the council.

Speaking on the issue of tax evasion, he said that when his Government came into power on March 19 last year, it did not want to be involved in unjust taxes, but now the injustice is being done by businessmen by blocking the Government’s income.

“When I sworn in the tax commissioner, I told him to go and collect taxes, we need them for development, but there are no unjust taxes. I said that in recognition that the Government needs income from taxes to be able to fulfill its responsibilities, including ensuring that citizens have access to social services.

“I insisted on justice in tax collection, believing that God’s blessings do not exist in injustice, today, three years later, I would like to emphasize my position of not agreeing with unjust taxes,” said President Samia.

“I am relieved since we started to emphasize the collection of taxes fairly, the collections continue to increase, for example the collections have increased from Sh18 trillion ($6,976,744) in 2021 to Sh24 trillion ($9,302,325) in 2022.”

She has said that with the number of Tanzanians and the level of business in the country, there is a great possibility for the Government to further improve community services if there is a common desire to increase income and reduce tax evasion.

President Samia has expressed his regrets due to the presence of businessmen who use various methods to avoid paying taxes, they do not issue receipts when they sell or when they issue receipts they are deficient.

“Paying taxes is religiously legal, it is the responsibility of each of us through various commercial activities to pay taxes fairly in accordance with the laws of the country.

“I rejected unjust taxes so that we can follow the principles of justice, but it is sad to see that our businessmen have now turned around, we have rejected unjust taxes as the Government and then businessmen are unjust to pay taxes.

“They abuse the income that would be used to serve the people, they probably do it for various reasons, maybe political, economic so that they get more wealth and more income or deliberately sabotage the development of the people,” he said.

She has used the platform to plead with businessmen who evade taxes to stop the injustice that is delaying the development of the country while promising to continue to manage the right to tax collection, improve systems and bring speed in the collection and payment of taxes as well as ensure that the taxes collected are used properly for the benefit of the people.

“I have to say because among us there are big businessmen here, but it is sad that some of them have ways to evade taxes. It is my belief that businessmen will understand me, they will pay taxes and citizens will demand receipts,” he said.