Tanzania Revenue Authority Dismisses TSZ 100 Million Bank Guarantee For Custom Agents

The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has recently announced that the condition for licensed custom agents to deposit a balance of TSZ 100 million as a bank guarantee in favor of the Commissioner for Customs and Excise, has been kept only for 25 companies from the 524 members of the Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (TAFFA).

The announcement was given by TRA’s Commissioner General, Mr. Rished Bade, during a recent meeting with TAFFA members in Dar es Salaam, where he additionally explained that a reduced bank guarantee of TSZ 25 million will still be applied to only the biggest agents in the industry.

The rule, within the specific conditions for eligible firms wishing to operate during the year 2016 as customs agents, customs warehouses, transporter of goods under customs control, or inland container depots in Tanzania, was imposed to ensure that only credible agents are licensed, added Mr. Bade.

TAFFA’s President Stephen Ngatunga, congratulated the exoneration on the bank guarantee and engaged to support transparency in the industry by the promotion of the already available website with detailed information of licensed agents and their personnel.

It was necessary to dismiss the rule due to the great work forwarders do for Tanzania since they represent more than 51% of the total revenue collected by the TRA, explained Mr. Ngatunga.

According to the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), a Norwegian independent development research institute for fighting poverty and defend human rights in emerging countries, since TRA’s inception in 1996, it has helped to raise tax revenue from TSZ 299.9 billion at the end of 1995, to over TSZ 9,800 billion at the end of 2014, from which TSZ 4,138 billion come from Customs and Excise Department.