06 Aug 2017

It is within the mandate of Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) to insist that farmers who are registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) and generate income above the threshold pay the tax.

Minister of Tertiary Education Research, Science and Technology, Dr Alfred Madigele said this on behalf of Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security recently that it was government policy to collect VAT from entities registered for VAT and generate income above the P1 million threshold.

“It is the farmers' responsibility to pay VAT if their income is above the threshold,” Dr Madigele explained in Parliament.

He said there was no preferential waiver to exempt farmers from paying VAT. 

Takatokwane MP, Mr Ngaka Ngaka had asked why BURS insisted on farmers to pay tax and what measures were in place to rectify the issue. ENDS