Liberia, Rwanda sign MOU

LRA Commissioner General Elfrieda Stewart Tamba and RRA Commissioner General Richard Tusabe signed the MOU on Thursday, August 24, 2017 in the Rwandan capital Kigali. The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will facilitate cooperation in sharing knowledge for improving tax administration.

The MOU was signed when LRA Commissioner General Elfrieda Stewart Tamba, led a knowledge-sharing mission to the RRA to learn from their counterparts who were established about 20 years ago and is now a point of reference for certain good achievements . The LRA was established three years ago.
A press release from the LRA says the MOU will guide the two revenue authorities in various areas of cooperation, notably in technical capacity building in areas where the RRA has comparative advantages.

Making remarks during the occasion, CG Tamba said the LRA wants to knowledge share with the RRA to further strengthen its capacity and to learn from the RRA on the implementation of its reforms, successes and challenges.

Rwanda has been achieving successes in the “Doing Business assessment” and has successfully been able to change behavior and to revolutionize tax administration with the use of automation.

Meanwhile, the LRA in 2016 completed its first five-year Corporate Strategic Plan, which seeks to similarly transform tax administration through the employment of automation and good taxpayer services, amongst others.

The LRA Commissioner General said that Revenue Authorities have a major task to achieve as they are expected to be able to raise 70 to 80 percent of the revenue needed to finance the development of their respective countries by 2063 as embodied in Agenda 2063 which is the African Union vision for Africa.

She observed that Kigali is a very clean and disciplined City. Also, that both bikers and passengers wear their helmet. She commended them for their level of development since their war.

Also speaking at the occasion, RRA Commissioner General Richard Tusabe said Rwanda and Liberia will be able to establish mechanisms through which they can share information on business that operates or come to both countries for successful but legitimate business on investments done not only in the region but on the entire continent.
Tusabe said it will also be vital in the fight against tax fraud in international business operation.

Partnering with Liberia will enable us share experiences because we have similar challenges that we can sit, discuss and join hands to find sustainable solutions to increase tax revenues in the future,” he said.

Tusabe said that tax performance has been on the increase and such tax performance is mainly influenced by prevailing economic indicators, mainly real GDP performance.He also indicated that their economy has been performing and that they have a high corporate tax rate of 30% but they have emphasized pro-business policies such as good service delivery and business process efficiency, thru the significant use of automation. Press Release