BY MBONGENI NDLELA
EZULWINI – Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg has assured businesses Eswatini that Government’s intention is to make the payment of tax easy and very fair. Minister Rijkenberg has been speaking at the Tax Indaba as organised by Business Eswatini Ezulwini Royal Villas today.
Speaking during the Tax Indaba, Minister Rijkenberg said, “Over the last few years, there’s obviously been a lot of pressure for increased revenue within our economy. I really believe that over the the short-term, one can speak for anyway, one has tried our best to focus because of trying times, as a country and economy we’ve really had some major blows over the past few years, especially Eswatini if you add what we experienced as a country unique from the global economy.
“We’ve really tried our best to not increase taxes and to not just come with new measures as countries normally do. Normally when there’s pressure to be able to spend on more, governments tend to look towards increasing taxes, as a country we’re allowed. It just wouldn’t be good, it wouldn’t be healthy in the current environment to increase taxes,” added Minister Rijkenberg.
The collaboration between Eswatini businesses and the Eswatini Revenue Services was further commended by Business Eswatini President Andrew LeRoux. LeRoux said, “We are here to work together with the service provided by ERS to see how we can pay our fair share. This is not about punishing people for mistakes or anything like that – how do we work together? And at the same time, there’s the transformation of ERS from ERA, from an agency to a service, there’s the introduction of the Revenue Appeals Tribunal of Eswatini, as the introduction of a tax amnesty”.
The Tax Indaba by Business Eswatini is aimed at increasing the country’s productivity overall, through ensuring a most conducive environment for business growth.
