Tax cheats swindle Swazi Customs

MBABANE – Tax cheats hauling petrol and petrol products into landlocked Swaziland are swindling the customs department of more than R3 out of every R4 that should be collected as revenue. During the first quarter of 2010, only R5.2m was collected out of R27m that had been projected to be collected. The problem, according to the Ministry of Finance’s quarterly report, is that under the Fuel Oil Levy Act currently in force, oil companies voluntarily provide inventories of amounts of oil products sold in Swaziland, from which a levy is imposed and collected. Inventory should be submitted on a monthly basis, but oil firms are either not complying or are understating volumes sold. Asked to comment, a tax official said laconically, “Despite reminders, some of them (oil firms) still do not adhere to the requirement.” One suggested reform is that oil imports should be taxed at the border as tanker trucks enter the country. Swaziland imports all its oil from SA, essentially by road.