1. The role of ICT in delivering efficient revenue collection in developing countries: The Tanzanian experience
Prof William McCluskey, African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria
Chyi-Yun Huang, World Bank
Patrick Doherty, Consultant
Prof Riel Franzsen, African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria
Land and Poverty Conference 2017: Responsible Land Governance—Towards an Evidence-Based Approach
March 20-24, 2017
Washington, DC

2. Key Issues to be addressed
Challenges of revenue collection
Role of ICT
LGRCIS
Importance of data/information
Arusha revenue collection
Sustainability

3. Manual systems; largely paper based
The Main Challenges faced by Local Administrations
Manual systems; largely paper based
Documents are prone to unlawful duplications
Management of documents is difficult
Revenue lost due to leakages
Payments in cash
Incomplete and inaccurate registers
Poor revenue budgeting and forecasting
Revenue collectors have to report manually

4. The Need to Change BUT………………... Ensure maximum voluntary compliance.
The vision is to transform the administration system to:
Make it simpler, quicker and hassle free for taxpayers and businesses
Make the process less labour intensive and less cumbersome
Improve the service offered to clients
BUT………………...
Ensure maximum voluntary compliance.

5. An Information Communication and Technology System (ICTS) is:
a business process that assists in the collection, storage, organization, communication and use of data and information.

6. Revenue Collection: Enhanced Compliance6
BILLING
COLLECTION
ENFORCEMENT
DELIVERY STRATEGY
IMPROVE SERVICE
IMPROVE ENFORCEMENT
MAKE IT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE
FOR THOSE TRYING TO
COMPLY
MAKE IT AS HARD AS POSSIBLE FOR THOSE TRYING TO EVADE OR AVOID PAYING THEIR
FAIR SHARE
ENHANCED COMPLIANCE
Key to this approach is ensuring that taxpayers/traders understand their obligations

7. The main revenue sources of Local Government in Tanzania
DESCRIPTION
Service levy
Property tax
Billboards
o/w Parking fees
Income from sale or rent
Market fees and charges
Secondary school fee
Licenses and permits on business activities
Hotel levy

8. The current problems in revenue collection
Corruption
Manual Processing
Poor Planning Frameworks
Outdated Information
Revenue Collection leakages

9. Local Government Revenue Collection Information System (LGRCIS)
Objectives:
Be able to collect and report revenue on a real time basis
Geographically locate all taxpayers/properties
Be capable of allowing multiple payment modes (Mobile money, banks, PoS, etc.)
Be able to allow for integration with other systems such as banks
Allow for intelligent reporting and analysis
Produce secure receipts and licenses which cannot be forged
Allow citizens transact easily with the LG.

10. Tanzania Strategic Cities Project
Total: 451,065 buildings
Mwanza, 82,000
Arusha 102,904
Tanga 47,439
Kigoma 42,535
Dodoma 59,420
Mbeya 100,298
Mtwara 16,869
Colours represent density of buildings

11. LGRCIS is an Integration with:
-Human resources information system
- Document and file management system
- Revenue collection system

12. Core Data Collection
Satellite imagery is acquired and processed; roads and buildings digitised
Undertake systematic fieldwork to collect other details (e.g. Occupier, use, age, etc)
Building a comprehensive database to support revenue collection

13. Initial Data from Aerial or Satellite Images

14. Buildings and Roads updated and captured into a GIS Database…

15. Arusha Digitised Buildings (102,904 buildings)

16. Identification of Building and Taxpayer
-(ARU007001)
-USAGE
-STATUS OF THE BUILDING)
- LOCATION/BLOCK
OWNER

17. Property and Building Characteristic in-field Data Collection
Multiple attributes are collected, inc
Ownership
Use (commercial/residential, etc)
Age
Condition

18. Core Field Data Collection in Detail
Every building will have:
An ID
Owner/occupier information
Lots of physical attributes (age, sanitation, water, condition, etc)
Units and use of each
Photograph

19. Arusha City Council: Revenue Performance

21. General Benefits
A fully-populated, functioning LGRCIS will present the opportunity for:
Transparent billing and collection: cashless society
Improved confidence by taxpayers
Professional approach to local revenue generation and collection
Robust decision making
Improved budgeting and revenue forecasting
Transparent and efficient taxpayer monitoring using GIS
Reliable ways of paying for services (bank transfer, mPesa, etc.)
Dependable receipted transactions for all services

22. The Challenge: One of Sustainability
Capacity building and training of staff
Core data collection processes
Development of LGRCIS
Role of PoRALG
Reliability of the system; internet connectivity
Integration of GIS
Development of partnerships with banks and
mobile money operators
Taxpayer education

23. LGRCIS was nominated and subsequently was one of the winners for…
Finally……………
LGRCIS was nominated and subsequently was one of the winners for…
2016 Bank-wide Innovation Award 2016 (6 winners out of 168 nominees)
2016 KNOWbel Awards (9 winners out of 254 nominees)