The Commissioner General of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Mr. Yusuph Juma Mwenda, has called on tax technical committees from East African Revenue Authorities to come up with recommendations for strengthening tax policy systems, invest in technological reforms, and align their systems with international standards to accelerate revenue collection.

He made these remarks on, September 22, 2025, in Dar es Salaam during the opening of the 100^th Meeting of the East African Revenue Authorities Technical Committee (EARATC).

Mr. Mwenda stated that tax authorities must be transparent, close to taxpayers, and prioritize taxpayer interests to encourage voluntary tax compliance.

“It is time we adopt a forward-looking approach by strengthening policies, investing in technological transformation, and aligning our systems with international standards. Our authorities must be transparent, accessible, and taxpayer-focused,” he said.

He also highlighted the major challenges facing these authorities, including smuggling, unfair financial practices that contradict regional integration efforts, limited intra-regional trade, declining voluntary tax compliance, and the difficulty of taxing the digital economy.

However, Mr. Mwenda noted that progress is being made, revealing that TRA surpassed its revenue collection targets for the 2024/25 financial year by collecting TZS 30.75 trillion compared to the target of TZS 30.01 trillion achieving 102.44% of the collection target.

Additionally, he commended Tanzanian taxpayers for their compliance and cooperation and urged EARATC members to continue devising effective strategies to simplify tax collection based on fairness and transparency.

The 100^th EARATC meeting, which brought together representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Tanzania, aims to discuss strategies to combat smuggling, streamline the movement of goods, eliminate cross-border tax challenges, and promote economic innovation within the East African region.

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