Further to our update on 05 January 2019 in respect of the effective date for the use of electronic tax stamps (“ETS”) being 15 January 2019 as introduced by the Electronic tax stamps Regulations 2018, with a transition period of up to 30 March 2019 whereby manufacturers and importers of excisable products were required to declare to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (the “TRA”) all quantities of non-electronic tax stamps and all products affixed with such non-electronic stamps, the TRA has issued a public notice on 08 April 2019 (the “Notice”) in respect of the deadline for selling and holding stock of products affixed with paper tax stamps and/or without tax stamps.
The Notice stipulates that the deadline for products without ETS is 30 April 2019 and products with paper tax stamps or without tax stamps are only permitted to remain in the market until that date. The products that this grace period applies to as part of phase one of the shift to ETS are: cigarettes; wines; spirits; beer; and all kinds of alcoholic products produced locally or imported. The Notice further stipulates that after 30 April 2019, the TRA will conduct special operations to remove from the market all products without ETS and where this is done there will be no compensation or refund available.
Should further information be required then visit the nearest TRA office or contact them through their toll free call centre numbers or by email:
- Toll Free Number: 0800 750075;
- Toll Free Number: 0800 780078;
- WhatsApp Number: 0744233333;
- Email: services@tra.go.tz.
If you have any questions regarding this legal update, please contact Amish Shah by email on aks@arslaw.co.tz.
