Botswana needs laws to regulate cyber trade in order to boost tax revenues, an information technology (IT) expert has revealed.
Seganeleng Matale, services manager at Desktop Holdings, has said IT legislation regulating online transactions could help prevent government losing ‘millions’ from online shoppers evading tax.
“Our customs regulating body does not have any form of agreement with any of the major online stores,” Matale said.
Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS), which levies duties on goods entering the country, has not determined how much revenues are lost to e-commerce, as the internet falls outside the matrix of the customs system.
Citing use of credit cards to buy goods from eBay, the largest online store based in United States, Matale notes that when locals in Botswana make transactions, BURS is not part of the picture.
“This not only makes it lose out on the revenue it could be generating, but it also puts citizens at the risk of being charged exorbitant tax rates from off-shore companies,” Matale said.
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