OSLO: Norway is contributing USD5m to a program designed to help the Government of Tanzania collect more in tax.
According to a statement published by the Norwegian Embassy in Tanzania, Norway’s contribution to Tanzania’s Tax Modernization Program was announced during a recent visit to the African nation by Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tone Skogen.
The statement explained that the main goals of the modernization program are to increase the quality and efficiency of corporate tax audits, expand Tanzania’s negotiating capacity with the extractive industry, and ultimately raise the level of overall tax revenue.
In its latest Economic Update, the World Bank warned that while the economy is growing strongly, the Tanzanian Government’s revenue levels are too low to finance the country’s ambitious public investment program.
Despite good progress in the late 2000s, the current level of tax revenues in Tanzania remains one of lowest in the world. The Government collected USD6bn worth of revenues or approximately 12 percent of gross domestic product in 2014, which was enough to cover almost three-quarters of government expenditure, but this amount is insufficient to fund much-needed investments in infrastructure and social services, the World Bank said.
