Shop owners in Tanzania go on strike over unfair tax estimations

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania | Xinhua | Shop owners in Tanzania’s six regions have shut down their shops and gone on strike over what they termed unfair tax estimations by revenue authorities.

The strike by the shop owners began Monday in Kariakoo, a hectic shopping center in the port city of Dar es Salaam. It later spread to the Mbeya, Mwanza, Dodoma, Mtwara, and Arusha regions.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa met with traders’ association leaders in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, but no official statement was released at the end of the negotiations.

On Monday, the government halted an exercise to inspect electronic fiscal device (EFD) receipts for tax collection managed by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) pending a review of the tax collection system.

The decision to halt the inspection of the EFD receipts was reached at a meeting of ministers responsible for finance, trade, and planning and leaders of traders’ associations and regulatory agencies held in Dar es Salaam.

Rashid Mhina, a shop owner at the Kariakoo shopping center, said that traders have been forced to close their shops to communicate with the authorities about the unfriendly tax demands.

“TRA officials have been applying unfriendly measures when collecting returns, affecting their business development,” he said.

On Monday, Members of Parliament urged the government to provide concrete answers on the ongoing traders’ strike, saying the situation posed risks to the country’s economy. ■