Nadine Evelyne UMUBYEYI
During the first 3 quarters of the fiscal year (July 2025 to March 2026), the economy of Rwanda expanded by 11% and outperforming the projected 8.1%, with growth driven largely by the industrial and services sectors.
The Rwanda Revenue Authority_RRA revealed the increase of 27.7% in tax collections, compared to the previous fiscal year (2025/26). It is due to the stronger economic activity translated into improved tax performance, across major revenue streams.
Ronald Niwenshuti, the Commissioner General of RRA, explained much about this increase, while they were launching the 2026/2027 Compliance Improvement Plan (CIP).
He said “Favorable macro-economic conditions, effective tax administration, successful implementation of tax policy measures and sustained improvements in taxpayer compliance” fulfill such strong performance.
The annual compliance strategy, unveiled on 08th July 2026, is aimed at strengthening voluntary tax compliance, expanding the tax base and mobilizing more domestic revenue to support Rwanda’s development agenda.
Digital transformation initiatives
Rwanda Revenue Authority_RRA credited series of compliance initiatives, for boosting domestic revenue, through mobilization driven to economic growth.
Electronic Billing Machines (EBMs) use had expanded with 43,243 additional taxpayers, joining the system, to improve VAT compliance and transaction traceability.
Also, joint EBM compliance campaigns conducted with the Rwanda National Police across Kigali and 5 districts (outside the Capital) led to more than 12,000 taxpayers adopting EBMs and the recovery of 3 billion in penalties.
All 126,282 new taxpayers have been registered during the year, who contributed Rwf 15.4 billion in tax revenue, while Rwf 277.1 billion in outstanding domestic tax areas was recovered through strengthened enforcement.
The corporate taxable income grew by 22.9%, compared to 1.9% in the previous fiscal year (2025/2026); while taxable employment income rose by 14.6%, resulting in 16% increase in Pay As You Earn (PAYE) revenue.
Measures to improve compliance
Rwanda Revenue Authority_RRA has been assigned a revenue target of Rwf 4.640 trillion for the Central government and Rwf 165.9 billion for Local governments, during the fiscal year of 2026/27.
In the new compliance improvement plan, RRA will focus on strengthening taxpayer registration, encouraging timely filling and payment of taxes, improving the accuracy of tax declarations, expanding the use of Electronic Billing Machines_EBM, accelerating taxpayer education and applying risk-based compliance management.
Closer collaboration with stakeholders and law enforcement agencies to combat tax crimes, should be counted a measure.
The Commissioner General of RRA, Ronald Niwenshuti emphasized on such continued collaborations, to be key to achieving the new revenue target with taxpayers, stakeholders and the tax authority.
Ronald Niwenshuti, the Commissioner General of RRA
He said “While significant progress has been made, much remains to be done to achieve even higher levels of compliance and domestic revenue mobilization. Through continued collaboration, mutual trust and the shared commitment of taxpayers, stakeholders and RRA staff, we will successfully achieve our revenue and compliance objectives for 2026/2027 fiscal year.”
The priority sectors include manufacturing, transport and storage, information and communication, professional services, education, real estate and construction, where the authority intends to strengthen compliance while promoting fair taxation.
Tax policy reforms introduced during the year generated Rwf 286.7 billion, exceeding the projected Rwf 259.2 billion and achieving 110.6% of the target. RRA presented the revenue collected on behalf of local governments also exceed target, reaching Rwf 137.9 billion, means 102.3% of the planned collection. The collections are expected to finance approximately 61.6% of Rwanda’s Rwf 7.796 trillion, national budget.
