EZULWINI – The Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) announced its highest revenue growth since the COVID-19 era during its Client Appreciation Day held at Happy Valley Hotel last night.
Presenting the financial year 2023/24 performance, Head of Business Development Strategy, Edward Groening, told clients and stakeholders that ERS collected E14.6 billion in revenue, a 12% increase from the previous year.
Groening said the ERS had outperformed nominal GDP growth, which stood at 8.7%, proving that internal efficiencies and improved compliance played a greater role than just economic expansion.
Groening revealed that voluntary compliance remained a central pillar in ERS’s performance. He said the organisation’s focus on simplifying processes and removing barriers had driven up the Net Promoter Score (NPS) from 62.5% to 77.7%.
He said ERS registered 4,600 new taxpayers, with individuals making up nearly half of that figure. Groening credited the deployment of the new ‘Tax Is’ system for making compliance simpler and praised the accelerated rollout, which was completed ahead of schedule.
Trade facilitation also showed growth, with imports increasing by 7.6% compared to the previous year. Groening noted that ERS handled E83 billion worth of goods through local borders, processing over 660,000 declarations. The time taken to process declarations improved from 29 minutes to 28 minutes on average.
On operational efficiency, Groening reported a collection cost of just 3.34 cents for every Lilangeni collected. Social media outreach also grew, with ERS reaching over two million people through digital platforms and attracting 13,000 followers.
Regarding debt management, Groening said ERS collected E1.6 billion in overdue taxes but also accumulated new debt, resulting in a slight increase in overall debt stock. He said improving debt recovery would remain a priority.
ERS’s contribution to the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts also improved, with E13.06 billion expected in 2024/25, up from E11.75 billion in 2023/24. He said SACU now accounts for 15% of Eswatini’s GDP.
Groening explained that ERS plans to shift focus towards Value Added Tax (VAT) collections, aiming to ease the burden on income taxes while increasing VAT’s contribution, which rose from 31% to 34%.
He reported that Eswatini’s tax-to-GDP ratio had improved to 16.7%, surpassing the regional average. Domestic taxes contributed over 50% of total revenue, aligning with the country’s goal of relying more on local resources.
Groening concluded by saying priority sectors remain wholesale, retail, and construction, where compliance gaps are still significant and VAT growth potential is highest.
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