Field Report Tanzania Revenues Authority
Field Report Tanzania Revenues Authority
Field Report Tanzania Revenues Authority
First of all I am grateful to almightily God who keeps me alive up this moment as well as giving good
health throughout my practical Training period.
Also I would like to express my gratitude to TRA Mtwara Regional Manager, for accepting my
application letter for field practical and considered it positively together with the former Assistant
Regional Manager (Audit) Mr. Rashid Herith, Tax Officers Mr. John James and Mr. Wilfred Christopher
Tumba.
Moreover, I would like to thank staff of TRA’s Domestic Revenue Department of Mtwara Region such as
Mr. Isack Mgongolwa, Mr. Innocent Ogola also Miss. Theresia Burugu, Mrs. Hilda Mbinga and Anna
Mwageni for their kindness and cooperation extended to me during the entire time of my field stay at their
office.
Special thanks go to Mr. Rashid Herith and Mr. John James for assisting me in field report writing.
Finally I extend my inner most appreciation to my beloved and caring family, for their endless moral
support, understanding, prayers, encouragement and productive suggestion that led me in pursuing and
get straight to my ambitions, goals and carrier in academic ,my father Lovell J Mwanri and my mother
Eline Maimu .
I also supply my inner most appreciation to my friends, roommates and fellow students for
encouragement, supports and advices on how to write this report.
I acknowledge all the mentioned and unmentioned for their material, mental and moral support for this
accomplishment. May the almighty God rain his shore less blessings upon them.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is all about what I learnt and trained to be at TRA(Mtwara) and it consists of three (3) chapters
and every chapter tends to have its components as shortlisted in the table of contents. The first chapter is
all about the nature of the organization (TRA) in general, its background, organizational structure,
offerings, customers, employees as well as its prospects.
The second chapter explains different specific activities performed within the area of placement, working
environment, level of interest and degree of meeting demand in the tasks performed, problems faced in
executing the tasks with their respective solutions and recommendations, expectations before going to the
training, new thing learnt, gaps between theory and practice, employment prospects and relevance of the
attachment. The third and last chapter is about conclusion and recommendation concerning improving the
gaps between teaching theory, practice and the placement process.
DECLARATION
To my best knowledge I declared this work is entirely mine. It has not been submitted by anybody for any
academic award in any of higher learning institutions. And that any mistakes found in this work cannot in
any way be attribute to anybody else but me
STUDENT NAME..........................................................................
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEGEMENT ................................................................................................................................ i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... ii
DECLARATION ......................................................................................................................................... iv
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................................... vii
1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 13
1.1 NATURE OF THE ORGANISATION ............................................................................................ 13
1.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF TANZANIA REVENUE AUTHORITY (TRA) .................. 13
1.2.1 Taxpayer’s Charter ..................................................................................................................... 14
1.2.2 TRA Departments ...................................................................................................................... 14
1.3. Number of Employees ..................................................................................................................... 17
1.4 Level of Technology ......................................................................................................................... 17
1.5 TRA CUSTOMER ............................................................................................................................ 19
1.6 STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS ............................................................................................................ 19
CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................................ 20
2.0 ACTIVITIES PERFORMED................................................................................................................ 20
2.1 PLACEMENT IN THE ORGANIZATION ..................................................................................... 20
2.2 DESCRIPTION OF TASKS AND DUTIES PERFORMED 2.3 WORK ENVIRONMENTS........ 20
2.4 LEVEL OF INTEREST IN THE TASKS PERFORMED ............................................................... 20
2.5 MEASURING DEMANDS OF THE ASSIGNED DUTIES ........................................................... 21
2.6 PROBLEMS FACED IN EXECUTING TASKS ............................................................................. 21
2.6.1 Power Break Downs................................................................................................................... 21
2.6.2 Too Much paper workings. ........................................................................................................ 21
2.6.3 Access to system (iTax, Computer) ........................................................................................... 21
2.6.4 Unplanned work ......................................................................................................................... 22
2.6.5 Insufficient of office furniture.................................................................................................... 22
2.7 SOLUTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PROBLEMS .............................................. 22
2.8 EXPECTATIONS BEFORE GOING TO THE TRAINING. .......................................................... 22
2.9 NEW THINGS LEARNT ................................................................................................................. 22
2.10 GAPS IN TEACHING BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE ................................................. 23
2.11 EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS ...................................................................................................... 23
2.12 RELEVANCE OF ATTACHMENT .............................................................................................. 24
3.0 CHAPTER THREE .............................................................................................................................. 26
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................ 26
3.1 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 26
3.2 RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING IMPROVING THE GAP IN TEACHING ................... 26
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS
PT-Practical Train
TANSAD -
PAD-Pre-Arrival Declaration
Over the last 17 years Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has matured from a tax administration that
provides tax type services for revenue collection to an efficient organization that delivers one stop shop
services for all types of taxes which has steered service delivery to the level of ISO 9001:2008
certification for the organization. Fourth Corporate Plan focus is attributed to the changes in TRA’s
operating environment which include the level of sophistication of stakeholders, the desire to offer
services that meet or exceed customer expectations and the Government’s need to be more self-reliant by
increasing domestic revenue mobilization to eventual reduction in aid dependency in the Government
budget. TRA implementing the Fourth Corporate Plan whose vision is to increase revenue to GDP ratio
to 19.9% by 2018. The Plan has been developed using the four Balanced Score Card perspectives of
Financial, Customer, Internal Processes and Learning and Innovation whereby Strategic Objectives have
been aligned under each perspective with cause and effect linkages. The perspectives and their respective
strategic objectives have been grouped into the Strategic Themes of Convenience, Compliance and
Continual Improvement to shape the TRA strategic thinking for the next five years.
Tanzania Revenue Authority in its effort to ensure the achievements of its objectives as required by the
Government of the United Republic of Tanzania has been establishing Corporate Plan of five(5) years
each, which normally show the roadmap of what is to be achieved and provide key performance
indicators which helps in monitoring and assessing the level of achievement and possibly assisting in
establishing the corrective action or the way to improve the situation that is likely to hinder the
achievement of the desired results. The Third Corporate plan of the Authority is in its final year (I.e. 5th
year) which due to come to an end in June 2017. The vision for the third Corporate Plan was to become a
Modern Tax Administration” whereas the mission was to be an effective and efficient tax
administration which promote tax. The current chairperson of the TRA is Dr. Mrs. Marcellina M.
Chijoriga. Offices of the TRA are located in Dar es Salaam. The TRA Board of Directors is the
Governing body of the Authority while the Commissioner General is the Chief Executive Officer of the
Authority.
The Commissioner General is appointed by the President on recommendation of the Minister for Finance.
In order to carry out its administrative functions, TRA has eleven Departments namely: Domestic
Revenue, Large Taxpayers, Customs and Excise, Tax Investigations, Internal Audit, Finance, Human
Resources and Administration, Research and Policy, Taxpayer Services and Education, Information and
Communication Technology and Legal Services. In order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness, TRA
benchmarks itself against international best practice in Tax Administration through the OECD principles
of a good tax administration by which it is fairing extremely well. TRA is now upgraded to ISO
9001:2008 certified from ISO 9001:2000
The fifth edition of the Taxpayer’s Service Charter has been prepared to replace the fourth edition with a
view of taking into account the changes which are currently taking place in our society and more
specifically in the tax administration. As part of the Public Service Reform Programs which emphasizes
on transparency and provision of quality service to every citizen, TRA being a public institution,
established a Taxpayer’s Service Charter which stipulates taxpayers rights, obligations and service
standards expected from TRA.
All functions of TRA are managed by the various departments of TRA. These departments are grouped into
two (2), revenue departments and supporting departments Revenue Departments This is involved directly in
mobilizing tax revenues collection through the administration of various tax laws. The department is sub
divided into the following;
The Department has offices in all regions in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar and almost in all Districts,
for the purpose to bringing tax service closer to taxpayers and increase revenue collections, Tax Service
Centers in some Regions have been established since 2010, for places where there is high revenue
potentials and also with the very same aim of bringing services to taxpayers. In Dar Es Salaam, centers
have been established in places.
About Customs & Excise Department
The Customs and Excise Department is headed by the Commissioner (known as Commissioner for
Customs and Excise) who is assisted by four (4) Deputy Commissioners including the Deputy
Commissioner – Zanzibar
The Department administers all taxes on international trade, which are import duty, Excise duty on
imported goods and VAT on imports. Other responsibilities of this Department are to control prohibited
and restricted goods or materials imported into the country through borders, seaports and airports. It has
another function of compiling Trade Statistics and facilitation of international trade.
Figure 1: General Organization Structure
1.3. Number of Employees
The total number of TRA employees in Tanzania is about 3600 up to September 19, 2015. Since TRA has
many departments hence numbers of employees vary each department. And as for the Mtwara Mikindani
were I undertaken my practical training, According to Mr. James John, number of employees is THIRTY
(30+) and more.
At TRA, level of technology is quite advance compare to other government authority because TRA shall
serve taxpayers and stakeholders in accordance with the following service standards:
Registration of Taxpayers
District: within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the application
All qualifying companies are issued with licenses within 10 days upon fulfilling the
requirements.
Customs Clearance
Importers and Exporters are required to fulfill customs requirements for the purpose of registering the
TANSAD
Importation Clearance:
Registered TANSADs that undergone through TRA PAD system get clearance within 6 hours.
Exportation Clearance:
Clearance is granted within 2 days after TANSADs has been Registered.
Transit Clearance:
Clearance is granted within 2 days after TANSADs has been Registered.
Customs Release
Licensing of Bonded Warehouse, Manufacturing under Bond (MUB) and Inland Container
Deports (ICD)
Tax Audits
TRA shall conduct tax audit on taxpayer’sbusiness records and finalize the audit within 3 months for
simple cases and 6 months for complex cases.
Audit Report
TRA shall give the audit findings /recommendations within 21 days after audit.
Tax Investigation Services
Rewarding of Informers
Eligible informers are rewarded within 30 days from the date of receipt of notice of
confirmation of payment of tax liability.
The above services show TRA has advanced technology through online and office services which cope
with the environment of technology.
Although I was working in team, but still most of the tasks that were assigned were supposed to do them
independently. The team work was to help each other for the information, as information was to flow
from one section to another.
I tried my level best to meet the demand of the given duties, for example by finishing the assigned tasks,
doing the tasks with trustfulness, carefulness, and greater accuracy. At first it was not such easy but as I
coped with the working environment and become familiar to the organization normal practices and
procedures, the performance increased and higher degree of meeting the demand of assigned duties was
achieved. The collective demand of all tasks assigned tends to prepare experienced, trustworthy and
creative performer in the accounting realm.
Applying my accounting skills into practice and to acquire new accounting knowledge.
To work with experienced accountants and other profession experts and gain valuable new insight
from them.
To make new friends of different background and education level.
Understanding more about the labor market especially to analyze my strengths and weaknesses.
Understanding how people behave, communicates, work as team and on how they manage their
daily activities as the managers of their position.
One of the important character accountant must have is honest which I notice at TRA. Dishonest
behavior by accountant affects reputation of firm and may cause loosing of trust.
Also, during my practical training i was able to learn a lot of new thing which widen my knowledge so as
to be competent enough in the labour market. I was able to know the following:-
During my PT there were several gaps between the theory and practice which I have come along with.
The major category in which there was a big gap in teaching between theory and practice is about
information system. The knowledge acquired in computer courses was much of theories and tends to be
of no help in executing computerized tasks during my PT.
Generally the qualities sought from graduates by two different firms, even within the same industry varies
to a large extent. As a result any university can’t satisfy the need of any firm 100% by providing
graduates with appropriate mix of skills required by a particular firm. In colleges only foundation is laid
to allow its application anywhere. Therefore there is and will always be a gap in teaching between
theories and practice and the situation justify the worthiness of the PT course.
I won't dare to waste any employment opportunity in this organization if vacancies would be announced
soon after I graduate. The environment is friendly, challenging, motivating and provides room for further
studies in case an employee is interested. Everything at TRA is tailored to provide a promising future for
employee's career development for the goods of the organization as well as individual benefits. My
internal supervisor, not to mention other workers, was impressed with my energy and abilities and they
recommend that I should apply in case of vacancies. The placement at TRA being the part of Graduates
Recruitment Program, it’s most likely for the trainee to be recruited after graduating.
2.12 RELEVANCE OF ATTACHMENT
Being within the organization, acting responsibly as a real employee and observing the codes of conducts
bearing in mind the PT objectives, made the field attachment to have great relevance. Integrating theory
and practice provide opportunity to understand the already taught theories and concepts in case of
misunderstandings and confusions existing. Also because of the tight nature of university's schedule, field
attachment is appropriate place to ponder the new and already acquired knowledge.
The PT was helpful at sharpening my human relations skills, problem solving skills, analytical skills and
creativity. Practicing of organizational culture such as punctuality, discipline, dressing codes and
accountability for eight weeks has been useful in refining my attitude.
3.0 CHAPTER THREE
3.1 CONCLUSION
The TANZANIA REVENUE AUTHORITY is a government agency of Tanzania, charged with the
responsibility of managing the assessment, collection and accounting of all central government revenue. It
is a semi-autonomous body that operates in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Affairs.
Practical training course is an enhancing program designed for students to learn and understand the
challenges necessary for their career. Most things taught theoretically are put in really world situation
during field attachment. It enables students to experience working environment before being exposed to
work after completion of their studies.
Furthermore, the Practical training opens up employment prospects for the students since the same
organizations offering practical training placements for the students might be interested and offer an
employment once graduating as well as other organizations having confidence of recruiting an
experienced graduate. Indeed my placement at TRA-Mtwara was very satisfying due to favorable
working environment, teamwork and friendly working relationship. For eight weeks I practiced, I am
confident to say that it is the promising organization with its tremendous performance increasing day by
day.