Petrol Stations given more time to fix EFDs

PETROL stations on the peripheries of the City of Dar es Salaam have been given more time to fix Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) directly to their fuel pumps as the deadline given earlier elapses tomorrow.

The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) had on July ordered all petrol stations in the city to install the devices by September 30.

The TRA Director of Taxpayers Education, Mr Richard Kayombo, said yesterday that the authority has decided to extend the deadline in order to give more time the petrol stations in the outskirts of the city.

“After a meeting with stakeholders and establishing the challenges in the exercise, particularly for petrol stations on the peripheries, we have decided to provide more time but we have yet set another deadline,” he said.

The meeting involved the TRA, Ministry of Finance and Planning and Petrol Stations Owners Association (TAPSOA). The meeting arrived at the decision to extend the deadline to provide more time to address the current challenges facing the exercise.

However, Mr Kayombo said the petrol stations that have not yet fixed the EFDs should continue using the Electronic Tax Registers (ETR) to issue the receipts upon selling the fuel.

The authority further reminded owners of the petrol stations to ensure that they issue receipts on each transaction to avoid unnecessary inconveniences, including facing the legal action.

The TRA introduced the EFDs to help curb tax evasion as sales transactions will be monitored electronically and receipts generated automatically whether or not a client asks for them.