The Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) closed fiscal year 2016 with 0.8 per cent in surplus collections against a target of Rwf1.09 trillion ($1.2bn)

The Outturn for 2016/17 was Rwf1,103 billion ($1.3bn) representing growth of 10.2 per cent of the preceding year and a surplus of Rwf8.7 billion ($10.3million)above the target.

The tax collector attributes the gains to automation of tax collection. The collections covered 56.4 per cent of national expenditure for the year compared with 55.3 per cent in 2015/16.
“We are also seeing an improvement in tax compliance,” said RRA Commissioner-General Richard Tusabe, adding, “More people are voluntarily paying taxes and this is partly because of the tax reforms we have introduced over the years to make payment of taxes easier by embracing technology and sensitising taxpayers about these changes.” 

The performance coming against a backdrop of a global crash in commodity prices and general economic uncertainty is seen as a bonus. 

Rwanda’s GDP fell drastically from 5.4 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year to 2.4 per cent in the second, and to 1.7 per cent in the third quarter. 

This was coupled with a reduction in consumption of goods, due to lower performance of the agricultural sector, which saw food price indices reaching a record high of 18.6 per cent, government statistics show.

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