Rwanda Revenue Authority-RRA

The history of taxes in Rwanda indicates that the first tax legislation was inherited from colonial regimes. This tax legislation included the Ordinance of August 1912, which established graduated tax and tax on real property. There was another Ordinance on 15th November 1925 adopting and putting into application the Order issued in Belgian Congo on 1st June 1925, establishing a profits tax.

This law was amended from time to time in order to comply with the changing economic environment. Such other legislative instruments include the 1973 law governing property tax, the tax on licence to carry out trade and professional activities, the law N°. 29/91 of 28th June 1991 on sales tax /turnover tax (now repealed and replaced by the law N°. 06//2001 of 20/01/2001 on the Code of Value Added Tax (VAT).

A substantive Law governing Customs was enacted on 17th July 1968 accompanying the Ministerial Order of 27th July 1968, putting into application the Customs Law.

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The administration and accountability of taxes and duties in Rwanda was initially under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. This was later vested into an independent body – the Rwanda Revenue Authority – that was established by law no 15/97 of 8th November 1997.

In 2005, the parliament adopted law number N°25/2005 of 04/12/2005 on tax procedures, amending Decree-Law of December 28, 1973 relating to Personal Tax, law n° 06/2001 of January 20, 2001 on the Code of Value Added Tax and law n° 9/97 of June 26, 1997 on the Code of Fiscal Procedures.

Similarly, LAW Nº 16/2005 OF 18/08/2005 2005 on direct taxes on income was adopted replacing Law n° 8/97 of 26/6/1997 on Code of Direct Taxes on Different Profits and Professional Income, and Law n° 14/98 of December 18, 1998 establishing the Rwanda Investment Promotion Agency, especially in its Articles 30, 31 and 34. Con

The parliament also adopted Law N°. 21 of 18/04/2006 establishing the customs law, replacing the Law of July 17th 1968 concerning the Customs law as amended and completed to date.

However, on July 1, 2009, Rwanda adopted the EAC Customs Managemet Act 2004, An Act of the Community to make provisions for the management and administration of Customs and for related matters.

RRA vision

“To become a world-class efficient and modern revenue agency, fully financing national needs.”

RRA mission statement

“Mobilise revenue for economic development through efficient and equitable services that promote business growth.”

RRA core strategic values

• Integrity;

• Customer focus;

• Transparency;

• Professional Service delivery;

• Teamwork.

RRA mandate

The Rwanda Revenue Authority was established under law N° 15/97 of 8 November 1997 as a quasi-autonomous body charged with the task of assessing, collecting, and accounting for tax, customs and other specified revenues. This is achieved through effective administration and enforcement of the laws relating to those revenues. In addition, it is mandated to collect non-tax revenues.

The Authority is also responsible for providing advice to the Government on tax policy matters relating to revenue collections. It performs other duties in relation to tax administration, as may be directed from time to time by the Cabinet.

The Authority was established as part of the reform programme by the Government of Rwanda designed to restore and strengthen the main economic institutions of the country. Additionally, the Government wanted to improve its resource mobilisation capacity while providing the public with better quality and courteous services. In a bid to mobilise more resources the Authority is therefore required to assist taxpayers in understanding and meeting their tax obligations thus raising their compliance.

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