27 Jan 2022

Botswana’s story of being a net importer is set to change, says Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS)commissioner general Ms Jeanette Makgolo.

Speaking at Botswana’s first ever commemoration of  International Customs Day  in  Kazungula on Wednesday, Ms Makgolo said laws had been changed to encourage local production and consumption of locally-produced goods in order to reduce dependence on imports.

She said currently BURS processed P70 billion and P60 billion worth of imports and exports respectively from 22 border posts, 10 inland service points, four international airports, seven airstrips and three rail offices annually.

Ms Makgolo said the organisation also processed about 700 000 customs declarations for both imports and exports annually from which the country received about P15 billion.

In addition, BURS facilitated about 180 000 transit declarations for cargo passing through Botswana to other countries, which demonstrated that the country was a north-south corridor transit hub, she said.

Ms Makgolo said in an effort to combat illicit trade, BURS registered 900 seizures on an annual basis. 

Turning to the day’s theme: ‘Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem’, she said it was timely for Botswana as it resonated with national strategic priorities.

“It comes at a time when the government of Botswana has identified digitalisation as one of the levers that drive service delivery and economic growth in pursuit of the aspirations of Vision 2036 and the Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.

On other issues, Ms Makgolo pleaded with the public to take advantage of the tax amnesty extension to June 30.

She explained that under the amnesty, the interest and penalties owed would be written off for taxpayers in arrears when they settled the principal debt.

“Taxes covered by the amnesty include Corporate Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Other Withholding Taxes (OWHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT),” she explained.

Acknowledging that the BURS system dubbed Lekgetho Life had teething problems, she encouraged taxpayers experiencing challenges to approach BURS offices countrywide for assistance in submitting tax returns or reconciling their tax accounts.

In her welcome remarks, Chobe district commissioner, Ms Sekgabo Makgosa said the choice of Kazungula One-Stop Border Post as a venue for the commemoration provided an opportunity for testing the facility’s performance on issues of trade facilitation and compliance with statutory requirements.

Trade facilitation, she pointed out, was one of the key factors for economic development and was closely tied to the national agendas on social wellbeing and poverty reduction/eradication.

“Trade needs an integrated approach because it requires the combined effort and efficiency of a number of government agencies as well as private parties and individuals,” she said.

Ms Makgosa said as a key trade facilitation area, the facility was one of government and BURS’ concerted efforts of simplifying and harmonising customs clearance procedures at bilateral level to bring about a conducive trade environment and comparative advantage.ends