New income tax law comes into force in Rwanda

The overall goal, they said, is to continue to encourage voluntary compliance by taxpayers. 


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 23-05-2018 15:17 IST | Created: 23-05-2018 15:17 IST
New income tax law comes into force in Rwanda
The previous law had been in force for more than 13 years and Habiyambere said there was a great need for further reforms. (Image Credit: RRA)
  • Country:
  • Rwanda

The Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) announced on Tuesday that it began implementing the new income tax law, enacted last month. Authorities said that the previous law had been partially amended to address the deficiencies identified during its implementation. 

The overall goal, they said, is to continue to encourage voluntary compliance by taxpayers. According to Aimable Kayigi Habiyambere, Commissioner for Domestic Taxes at Rwanda Revenue Authority, the new law replaces the 2005 Income Tax Law and facilitates and further promotes investment.

"The new changes aim to harmonize the law with the investment code recently adopted, in general, we want to continue facilitating and promoting investment in the country," he told the media at the RRA offices. 

The previous law had been in force for more than 13 years and Habiyambere said there was a great need for further reforms in the law to invest in capital markets.

The new law stipulates that capital gains from the sale or transfer of shares in the capital market and from the sale or transfer of units of collective investment companies are exempt from Capital Gain Tax. However, a tax on capital gains on the sale or transfer of shares has been introduced. Kayigi stated that a 5 percent tax rate will be applied to the capital gain in the sale or transfer of shares.

Give Feedback