The Ministry of Revenues has partnered with Ethio Telecom to launch a digital payment system allowing businesses and others to settle their taxes using TeleBirr.
Ethio Telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamiru and Revenues Minister Aynalem Nigussie signed a strategic partnership agreement on Thursday.
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The partnership to implement the digital system provides taxpayers with additional options to settle their taxes using a convenient and secured digital payment platform.
As per the agreement, businesses and other taxpayers can settle their income taxes, private pension fees, and federal tax payments using via Telebirr App or USSD (*127#).
“Our company has also set up a room for merchants who make transactions through Telebirr to directly pay their taxes from the money collected from the transactions,” Ethio Telcom said.
The system would help businesses get clearance and receipt upon real-time payment, according to the state-owned telecom service provider.
TeleBirr, which was launched in May 2021, has more than 28.2 Million subscribers who have made over 263 billion birr worth of transactions, to date.
The digital payment platform is currently being used by Addis Ababa Revenues Bureau to collect taxes from small businesses categorized under Group C.
The newly signed partnership deal between MoR and Ethio Telecom will see its implementation at the federal level.
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How it works
- Taxpayers log into the e-tax service found on the MoR website: www.mor.gov.et
- select E-tax service,
- follow the procedures and complete the necessary requirements
- settle the payments from their private or institution’s Telebirr account (or *127#) using the document number they receive from the Ministry of Revenues
- They will receive a receipt via their emails as soon as they completed the payment.
Telebirr: Expected Contribution
The implementation of the Telebirr-based digital Payment system in the tax collection process is a part of an ongoing push to modernize Ethiopia’s tax administration, Revenues minister Aynalem said.
The government secured 225 billion Birr in tax revenues in the past six months, putting the ministry of Revenues on course to attain its plan for the current 2022/23 fiscal year.
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The Ministry has to collect a similar amount of revenues in the second half of the year in order to achieve its annual target its officials set at 450 billion Birr. At least 70 billion Birr of the target is expected to be collected through Telebirr, Aynalem said.
