Nation Awards More Than 400 Best Taxpayers

President Sahlework Zewde has commended loyal and transparent taxpayers as the nation awarded more than 400 best taxpayers of the 2014 Ethiopian Fiscal Year today.

Speaking at the award giving ceremony, the president said tax is crucial for the government to undertake development and make the nation economically strong.

She expressed her hope that the award would encourage honest tax payers who pay their tax on time and others to follow suit.

According to her, tax from domestic sources has been increasing in the past years, but is not enough to cover all the development ventures and to redress the challenges the country is facing.

Out of the total 400 taxpayers, 40 were awarded platinum, 120 gold, and 240 silver.

The Chinese company Hunan Jian International Light City Ethiopia received a special trophy.

Revenues Minister Aynalem Negussie congratulated the taxpayers and called on businesses to pay taxes promptly and honestly.

Stating that tax is the main source of finance for the government, she stated that the ministry will work on increasing tax collection in different ways.

Aynalem also stressed the need to expand tax base and improve tax collection to undertake socio-economic development and be resilient to build a strong economy.

Ethiopia has immense resources in many sectors for development and prosperity, the minister noted.

The ministry, which planned to collect 360 billion Birr last Ethiopian fiscal year, collected over 336.710 billion Birr, which is 93.5% of the plan.

The performance has shown a 57.3 % increase compared to the previous year.

Source: Ethiopia News Agency