According to the statement from the
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Mr Majaliwa said there were some TRA
officials who wanted to derail the ‘‘good intention by the government”
of increasing its revenues through collecting appropriate taxes.
‘’These officials tend to increase the
amount of tax above what the traders are supposed to pay, hence making
the exercise difficult or look like a punishment to the traders,
something which is completely wrong,” he said, adding: “I order that all
TRA staff who engage in such malpractice are hunted and held
accountable.”
Mr Majaliwa encouraged the traders to
report such officials to their respective regional and district
commissioners (RCs and DCs) so that measures could be taken against
them. ‘’TRA tax collectors who treat the traders unfairly due to
personal vendetta against them should be reported; the aim is to enable
you to do your businesses smoothly and pay taxes a according to the law,
“ he told the traders.
He made the statement on Sunday when
addressing regional authorities from Mbeya, Katavi, Song, Rukwa, Ruvuma,
Iringa and Njombe regions. He told the RCs and DCs to listen to
businesspeople who have genuine complaints over unfair taxes imposed on
them.
Premier Majaliwa used the platform to
direct the TRA to strengthen the department for tax evaluation to put in
place fair amounts of taxes that would not appear to be exploitative to
the traders.
Meanwhile, the premier has directed the
Immigration Services Department to control dishonest public officials
who have been corrupted by illegal immigrants in exchange for permits.
‘’There must be stringent measures to ensure that there is no
non-Tanzanian who enters the country illegally.
This is because without doing so, we
would be allowing our enemies get into the country. Those who will be
found to have entered the country without proper permits should be
arrested and charged in court,” he ordered.
Poor control on influx of illegal
immigrants into the country, which leads to population increase, has
been causing the government to fail to effectively implement its plans
aimed at improving the lives of Tanzanians.
The duty to protect the country’s
borders does not only rest in the hands of the Immigration Department,
Mr Majaliwa pointed out, adding that even the RCs and DCs in border
regions were duty bound to check illegal entries and suspicious activity
at the borders.
Statistics available at the Immigration
Department show that a total of 4,792 illegal immigrants were netted
during the period from January to April. The figures indicate that only
3,495 out of a total of 7,441 foreign workers, who were granted
residency permits in the same span of time applied for such permits.
‘‘This simply means that a total of
3,998 foreign workers were slogging it out for a living illegally. Some
come into this country to pursue economic prosperity. Others are
smugglers of counterfeit goods.
And there are sheer opportunists who are keen on improving their tattered livelihoods,” the PM noted.
Mr Majaliwa further reminded all RCs
countrywide to continue strengthening security in their areas of
jurisdiction to maintain peace, so that Tanzanians could engage in
economic activities peacefully.
