Vénant Ndimuruvugo, Burundi Revenue Office (OBR)

1. PERCEPTION OF A TAX ADMINISTRATION BY TAXPAYERS:
CASE STUDY ON BURUNDI REVENUE OFFICE (OBR)
Venant Ndimuruvugo, Research and Planing Officer
Office Burundais des Recettes
African Tax Administrations Research day
Entebbe, Thusday 19th October 2017

2. Objectives
 Measuring the level of taxpayers’ satisfaction ;
 Elucidating the global perception of Burundi tax environment by taxpayers ;
 Highlighting the taxpayers’ experience with OBR ;
 Highlighting the quality of the relationship between taxpayers and the Tax
Administration ;
 Probing the perception of the legal environment by taxpayers ;
 Collecting taxpayers’ wishings aiming the emprovement of the tax system.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

3. Brief Summary of Technical aspects of
the Study
 A study based on questionnaire (survey);
 Survey population : Taxpayers subject to various taxes who come to OBR
frequently and or those who come occasionally for a service request;
 Sample of 484 respondents chosen randomly by probability sampling method;
 Sondage effectué à Bujumbura et à l’intérieur du pays (Muyinga, Gitega,
Kayanza et Makamba conducted in Bujumbura (capital) and in 04 other
provinces (Muyinga, Gitega, Kayanza et Makamba);
 Questionnaire with 03 parts:
 Appreciation of the reception systèm
 Appreciation of the services offered by OBR
 Perception of the overall tax environment in Burundi
Calender : Survey conducted from march 29th to may 30th 2017.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

4. The sample
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16.9%
15.9%
49.0%
18.2%
Considering the turnover of
respondents
Large taxpayers (turnover >= 1 billion)
Medium taxpayers (TO between 100 millions and 1 billion BIF)
Small taxpayers (TO btn 24 and 100 millons BIF)
Autres
16.90%
3.10%
43.80%
5.70%
30.50%
Considering the bureau visited by the
respondents
Virago
Service Immatrivulation
des véhicules
Immeuble Emmaüs
Pathway
Port de Bujumbura
Autre
 49% of the respondents are small
taxpayers
 17% Large taxpayers
 16% medium taxpayers
 18% others (who come occaionaly for
a specific service request).
The respondents visited :
 EMMAUS Pathway : 43,8%
 VIRAGO Complex : 16,9%
 Port of Bujumbura : 5,7%
 Vehicles Immatriculation Service :
3,1%
 Other sites (indeed other Provinces
and Palais des Arts) : 30,5%.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

5. 1. Appreciation of reception
a. Existence of reception and orientation agents
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 54% of respondents stated taht the oroientation and reception service
exists.
 90% of respondents agreed that visitors are received by their arrival order.
 Only 31% of respondents have been received immediately.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

6. 1.b. Why do they wait before being received ?
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Q4 : Selon vous quelle
était la raison de votre
attente ?
L'employé était en conversation
au téléphone ou avec un/une
collègue
2.60%
Autres à préciser 3.40%
L'employé était absent 3.40%
Panne technique 5.70%
La lenteur du personnel 10.60%
File d'attente 74.30%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
Other motives (3,4%):
 disorder ,
 Lack of declaration forms,
 OBR agent who is busy with
other activities,
 Insufficient agents
 Absence of some documents in
the taxpayer’s folder that
makes the process be stopped.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

7. 2. Service appreciation by taxpayers
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 59,1% of the respondents were satisfaied by the physical presentation of
the bureaux and theirs equipments;
 57,3% were satisfied by the will of OBR to solve their problems.
 69,3% recognised that OBR employees respect the rendez-vous.
 57,8% were satisfied by the speed of service.
 72,4% found that OBR employees have sufficient technical knoledges
African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

8. 2. Service appreciation by taxpayers
(ctd)
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 59,9 were satisfied that OBR agents reserve stay attached to listening their
problems
 78,4% were satisfied by service hours at OBR.
 57,6% satisfied that the OBR offices are localized not far from their working
places.
 75,8% asserted that OBR works in respect of laws in force.
African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

9. 4. Attitude of OBR employees towards
taxpayers
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 62,2% dof respondents asserted that they have never met an OBR employee with
a bad behalf vs 37,8% who have already experienced that situation
 Those who met bad intended employees confied that the employee :
• Tried to ask for a counterpart of the service (corruption)
• Was speaking more than listening the taxpayer’s problem ;
• Was more concerned by his problems than those of the taxpayer
• Was concerned by the problems of OBR than the taxpayer’s ones
• Tried to impose his point of view instead of convincing the taxpayer
• Seked to enter in the private life of the taxpayer
• Seemed to be overflowed and under stress
• Was source of anxiety instead of satisfaction for the taxpayer.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

10. 5.Corruption @ OBR
5.a. Existence of corruption @ OBR
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• 17,2% of the respondents consider that corruption exists @OBR
• Among them, 18.2% have already corrupted an employee of OBR.
• How do the employee to ask for corruption :
 Setting distant appointments (« come back on Friday » = 5,000; 50,000;
500,000; 5,000,000; « come back in ten days »; etc.)
 Seeming not to find the taxpayer’s file
 Asking openly for bribes
 Seeking for a rendez-vous with the taxpayer out of service hours
 Helping the taxpayer to underestimate the amount to declare
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Le graphique 178 montre que seulement 17,7% des répondants considèrent que la corruption existe à l’OBR et qu’elle est un problème majeur dans les activités de l’OBR contre 82,3% qui ont émis u
African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

11. 5.b. Why corruption continue to be reported @OBR? According to the
respondents, …..
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Corruption exists @OBR because :
- Corruption is part of everday life (34,9%)
- Recruitments and advancements of OBR
personnel has always been made
without transparency (27,3%)
- There are so many and complicated
procedures @OBR (25,8%)
- There is external interference @OBR
(9,10%).
- Salaries and wages are not motivating @OBR
(3%)
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• Which services are mostly
corrupted?
o Services in charge of
reception of tax
declarations
o Customs,
o Services in charge of tax
audits
o Service of vehicles
registering
African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

12. 6. Perception of the tax environment in
Burundi
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 83,6% of the respondents stated that taxes are not a illegal charge imposed by
Government to citizens 16,4% think that taxes are a illegal charge
 46,1% found that the legal environment is understandable when 44,3% consider that
they are stable.
 44,3% said the respondents stated that VAT rate is high
 46,1% declared that rates are for customs taxes and royalties
 80,1% answered that declaration dates are suitable and
 81% consider that the number of taxes are convenient,
African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

13. 6. Some of respondents’ wishes
 Revising downwards tax rates,
 Combatting fraud and smuggling in order to protect compliant taxpayers
 To simplify procedures
 Automating all services @OBR
 Translating forms and laws in local language(Kirundi)
 Decentralizating all services in provinces
 Resolving technical problems (network, electric cuts ) on time
 Installing orientation panels in the OBR bureaus
 Consulting all stakeholders before undertake any tax reform
 Improvement the archiving system in order to avoid loss of useful taxpayer’s
information
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

14. Key Learning : conclusions
 The study showed that the image of OBR towards taxpayers is relatively good depending on
what aspect we consider.
 il est nécessaire mener des actions visant à améliorer davantage l’image de l’OBR vis-à-vis de
ses contribuables.
 La corruption reste perceptible à l’OBR malgré les actions déjà entreprises pour éradiquer ce
fléau.
 Une bonne partie des contribuables sont conscients de la nécessité de s’acquitter des impôts et
taxes mais il s’observe une méconnaissance des lois et procédures par les contribuables
 Les contribuables considèrent que les taux des divers impôts, taxes et droits perçus par l’OBR sont
élevés
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

15. Suggestions :
 Renforcer l’effectif du personnel pendant les périodes de réception des
déclarations ;
 Prendre des mesures adéquates en vue d’améliorer la satisfaction des contribuables
en matière de durée de traitement des dossiers, l’écoute des doléances des
contribuables, etc. ;
 Accélérer l’acquisition d’un bâtiment propre à l’OBR en vue de faciliter les
contribuables ;
 Organiser des formations et stages de perfectionnement à l’égard des employés ;
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

16. Suggestions :
 Suivre et sanctionner exemplairement les employés qui se rendent coupables d’un accueil
peu adéquat à l’égard des contribuables ;
 Poursuivre la mise en application des mesures de prévention/éradication de la corruption ;
 Renforcer la stratégie de communication envers les contribuables ;
 Proposer au Gouvernement les mesures de politique fiscale visant à corriger les lacunes
relevées en matière de loi et procédures fiscales ou douanière ;
 Renforcer le centre de documentation / bibliothèque bien équipé ou, à défaut, souscrire un
abonnement aux bibliothèques en ligne afin de faciliter la réalisation des études futures ;
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

17. Suggestions :
 Prévoir des moyens logistiques suffisants pour la réalisation des études futures ;
 Prévoir un espace adéquat pour les contribuables qui attendent d’être servis
surtout au site du palais des Arts (ex Province de Bujumbura) ;
 Prévoir des installations facilitant aux personnes handicapées physiquement
d’atteindre les services de l’OBR situés en étage.
 Réserver une place pour les dénonciations de corruption.
 Continuer de former le personnel de l’OBR en matière d’éthique et
déontologie
 Prendre des mesures de surveillance qui s’imposent en vue de corriger les
imperfections au service pouvant conduire à l’insatisfaction des
contribuables.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

18. Key Learning : conclusions
 Althought taxpayers are received in respect of their arrival order, we found that
that only 31% of taxpayers who came @OBR were served immediately (within 10
min after arrival)
 Aspects such as hours of service, respect of laws, knowledges of OBR employée,
respect of rendez-vous, listening of taxpayers, the appearence of bureaux and
equipment, speed of service, localization of the bureaux and the follow-up
reserved to the taxpayers’s complaints have been noted as satisfying the
taxpayers’ preferences.
 Otherwise, we noted that some OBR employees still displays an unconfortable
behaviour towards taxpayers (38,8% of the respondents)
 Also, corruption has been reported by respondents.
 We found that taxpayers still have limited knowledges about the tax
environment and need to be more informed.
 The study showed that tax rates are considered as very high and need to be
reajusted to the exonomic context.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

19. Key Suggestions :
 Improve service quality by OBR employees
 Pursue the project of automation of the internal taxes collection (online
declaration, electronic payments, electronic fiscal machines, …;
 Pursue the reform of laws ;
 Engage more taxpayers education programmes.
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda

20. 19/10/2017
Mwebale Nnyo
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African Tax Administrations Research Day Entebbe, Uganda