Traders threaten to sue Government

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By Anthony Mayunga, Mwanza

Guesthouses here have threatened to sue the government for continuing to impose 20 per cent levy on the business while hotels, a related industry, paid only 18 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT).

The secretary general of the guest house owners association known in its Kiswahili acronym of Uwanza, Mr Kilphence Herman, said the levy was a big burden as it forced them to set high room occupancy rates, making many customers to shun their businesses.

Uwanza has an estimated 350 members. The move, Mr Herman said, was the only recourse left to them as the Government has decided no to listen to their demands, raised at different occasions.

"We have since January last year been complaining over the levy to the Finance and Economic Affairs Ministry, yet the government is still silent," he said.

Mwanza City council has been claiming to be merely acting according to the law. Mr Herman said that requirement ought to change in order to harmonise taxes in an area of related service.

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