Tanzania
Tanzania Revenue Authority Act
Chapter 399
- Commenced on 7 August 1995
- [This is the version of this document at 30 November 2019.]
- [Note: This Act has been thoroughly revised and consolidated under the supervision of the Attorney General's Office, in compliance with the Laws Revision Act No. 7 of 1994, the Revised Laws and Annual Revision Act (Chapter 356 (R.L.)), and the Interpretation of Laws and General Clauses Act No. 30 of 1972. This version is up-to-date as at 31st July 2002.]
Part I – Preliminary provisions
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Tanzania Revenue Authority Act.2. Application
This Act shall apply to Mainland Tanzania as well as to Tanzania Zanzibar.3. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—"Authority" means the Tanzania Revenue Authority established by section 4;"Board" means the Board of the Authority established by section 10;"Chairman" means the Chairman of the Board of the Authority;"Commissioner General" means a person appointed under section 16 of the Act to be a Commissioner General;"Deputy Commissioner General" means a person appointed under section 17 to be a Deputy Commissioner-General;"member" means a member of the Board and includes the Chairman;"Minister" means the Minister for the time being responsible for finance;"revenue" means taxes, duties, fees, rates fines, or any other monies imposed by or collected under the laws or the specified provisions of the laws set out in the First Schedule; and"Revenue Commissioner" means a person appointed to act on behalf of the Commissioner General for the purposes of administering tax laws and nontax revenues provided for under the laws specified in the First Schedule to this Act.[Acts Nos. 14 of 2001 s. 26A; 1 of 2005; 9 of 2008 (E.A.C.C.M.A) s. 7, s. 253; 2 of 2016 s. 46]Part II – Establishment, powers and functions of the Authority
4. Establishment of Authority
5. Functions of Authority
5A. Consultation and coordination
6. ***
[Repealed by Act No. 10 of 2015 s. 102][s. 5A]7. Taxpayer identification and exchange of information
8. Confidentiality
9. Role of Minister
It shall be the duty of the Minister—Part III – The Board and its functions
10. Establishment of Board
11. Tenure of office
12. Meetings of Board
Part IV – Powers and operations of the Board
13. Powers of Board
In the discharge of its functions under this Act, the Board may—14. Exemptions
15. Annual reports on exemptions
Part V – Commissioner General, officers and staff
16. Commissioner General
17. Deputy Commissioner General
18. Termination of appointment
The President may after the recommendation of the Minister terminate the appointment of the Deputy Commissioner General for—19. Functions of Deputy Commissioner General
20. Appointment of Revenue Commissioners, directors and staff of Authority
20A. ***
[Repealed by Act No. 2 of 2016 s. 50]21. Duties of Secretary
The Secretary to the Board shall be responsible for arranging the business proceedings of the Board and for such other duties as the Board may direct.[Act No. 8 of 1996 s. 13][s. 17]22. Exemptions from personal liability
An employee of the Authority shall not in his personal capacity be liable in civil or criminal proceedings in respect of any act or omission done in good faith in the performance of his functions under this Act.[s. 18]Part VI – Financial provisions
23. ***
[Repealed by Act No. 15 of 2000 s. 40][s. 19]24. Revenue to accrue to Consolidated Fund
25. Estimates of income and expenditure of Authority
The Commissioner General shall, not later than three months before the end of each financial year, prepare and submit to the Board for its approval, estimates of its income and expenditure for the next ensuing year and may at any time before the end of a financial year, prepare and submit to the Board for approval any estimated supplementary to the estimates of a current financial year.[s. 21]26. Accounts, audit and annual report
27. Special auditor
The Minister may whenever appropriate and upon such conditions as he may deem proper, appoint an auditor for auditing of accounts of any taxpayer who is suspected or is reasonably believed to engage in fraud or any other form of dishonesty.[Act No. 8 of 1996 s. 16][s. 23]28. Authority exempted from taxes, etc.
The Authority is hereby exempted from payment of any import and other duties, taxes and levies in respect of its operations, capital, property or documents or any transaction, deed, agreement, fees or promissory note to which it is a party.[Act No. 13 of 1996 s. 51][s. 24]29. Satisfaction of orders against the Authority
For purposes of this Act, and notwithstanding any contrary provisions in any written law, where in any civil proceedings by or against the Authority, any order, including an order as to costs, is made by a court in favour of any person against the Authority or against an officer of the Authority as such, or where the court has to issue an order for execution, attachment or process in the nature thereof, all the provisions of section 15 of the Government Proceedings Act shall apply to the suit as if the suit were a proceeding by or against the Government, the Authority were a Government Department and its officers were officers of the Government.[Cap. 5][Act No. 13 of 1996 s. 51][s. 25]30. Quarterly reports
The Commissioner General shall, after the end of every three months, submit to the President and the Minister a report containing—31. Internal audit and periodic audit reports
Part VII – Miscellaneous provisions
32. Vesting of assets and liabilities, subsisting contracts and pending proceedings
33. Construction and modification of other laws
On and after the coming into force of this Act all references to a revenue commissioner in any law or any specified provisions of the laws set out in the First Schedule shall be construed as references to the Commissioner General of the Authority.[Acts Nos. 8 of 1996 s. 18; 13 of 1996 s. 51; 4 of 2018 s. 60]34. Offences
Any person who for the purposes of this Act—35. ***
[Repealed by Act No. 4 of 2018 s. 61]36. Repeal
Repeals the Tanzania Revenue Board Act.[Act No. 22 of 1994][s. 31]37. Savings
Subject to the provisions of this Act, any right of any person, including a right of appeal, subsisting against a Revenue Commissioner immediately before the commencement of this Act shall be treated as subsisting against the Commissioner General in so far as that right relates to the duties of the Commissioner General under this Act.[Act No. 8 of 1996 s. 18][s. 32]38. Regulations
The Minister may, after consultation with the Authority make regulations for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Act.[Acts Nos. 8 of 1996 s. 18; 13 of 1996 s. 51][s. 33]History of this document
30 November 2019 this version
Consolidation
07 August 1995
Commenced
Cited documents 12
Legislation 12
- Airport Service Charge Act
- Foreign Vehicles Transit Charges Act
- Land Disputes Courts Act
- Land Registration Act
- Local Government Authorities (Rating) Act
- Local Government Finances Act
- Motor Vehicles (Tax on Registration and Transfer) Act,
- Oil and Gas Revenues Management Act
- Port Service Charge Act
- Roads and Fuel Tolls Act
- Tax Administration Act
- Vocational Education Training Act
Documents citing this one 4
Judgment 3
- Cleophas M. Motiba & Others vs The Principal Secretary Ministry of Finance & Others (Civil Appeal 27 of 2010) [2010] TZCA 159 (30 December 2010)
- Cleophas M. Motiba & Others vs The Principle Secretary Ministry of Finance & Others (Civil Appeal 27 of 2010) [2010] TZCA 115 (8 October 2010)
- National Bank of Commerce Ltd vs Commissioner General Tanzania, Revenue Authority (Civil Appeal 251 of 2018) [2020] TZCA 309 (16 June 2020)