NAIROBI – The East African Community (EAC) member states on Thursday pledged to enhance cooperation in order to curb tax revenue losses.
Patrick Mukiibi, commissioner of tax investigations department, Uganda Revenue Authority told Xinhua in Nairobi that the exchange of information in the economic bloc is critical to boosting domestic resource mobilization.
“The overall aim of joint investigations is to boost the tax compliance rate which has a positive effect on tax authority revenues,” Mukiibi said during the East Africa regional meeting for commissioners of investigation and enforcement.
The meeting brought together tax investigation commissioners from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania to discuss ways of detecting and combating tax evasion and tax crimes in the region.
Mukiibi said that enhanced collaboration is necessitated because companies in the region have set up subsidiaries in other partner states.
“It is also important to work together in order to learn lessons from each other given that different countries have developed different capacities and competencies,” he added.
According to the Ugandan tax official, optimum regional cooperation will require that some national laws be amended in order to ensure a harmonized domestic tax regime.
David Yego, commissioner of tax investigations and enforcement at Kenya Revenue Authority said that sharing of intelligence across the trading bloc will ensure that tax fraud and evasion that is committed across borders are detected and those found culpable are prosecuted.
