Online tax filing deadline extended

Isaac Pinielo | Wednesday October 5, 2016 16:22

The deadline for this year’s Tax Returns was originally set for September 28, but in view of the sluggish submissions in electronic tax filing, it has been extended to October 31, 2016.

BURS communication specialist, Refilwe Moonwa said the tax body decided to extend the deadline in order to give the many people who have not submitted their returns the last chance.

“We realised that there are many people who are struggling to register online, so we decided to extend the time,” she said.

She noted that the workshops they held across the country in partnership with Business Botswana have encouraged many people to use online services.

“The workshops were particularly meant for the business community as a way of introducing and driving the uptake of the e-services platform,” she said.

E-services was first introduced and piloted in 2013 for the value added tax (VAT) paying customers only, which the BURS said was successful and as a result the current bouquet of services now include application for tax registration, de-registration for all tax types, filing and payment of all tax types such as VAT, customs duties, excise duties, pay as you earn (PAYE), income tax and other withholding taxes.

Other services that were made available include viewing of compliance status, viewing of account status, updating personal or company details, tax clearance certificate application, viewing, printing and verification.

Moonwa encouraged the public to take advantage of the extension and conduct their tax affairs at their convenience at the click of a button.

If in need of help, she said, people should call the help desk, noting that there are officers willing to assist those that encounter problems.