By Lodu Willam Odiya
South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA) has revealed collecting 984.4 billion South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) in non-oil revenue for 2024/2025 financial year.
Speaking on Tuesday, during a launch of South Sudan Institute of Revenue Authority and Non-Oil Revenue Mobilization and Accountability phase two project, SSRA Commissioner General, Simon Akuei Deng, reported an increase in non-oil revenue collection.
The Commissioner General said the increase demonstrated the effectiveness of reforms and the widening of the national tax base.
“Through the capacity building initiative, we have developed the skills, staff, capabilities capable of overseeing national tax and customs administration, growth in our revenue collections, non-oil revenue collections have increased from 700 million SSP in the financial year 2017-18 to over 984.4 billion SSP in the fiscal year 2024-2025” Akuei revealed.
He said the revenues collected are use in provision of essential public services and infrastructure development.
Akuei underscored global trend, digitization a critical pillar of the South Sudan Revenue Authority modernization strategy.
“Our digital agenda is not simply an upgrade. It is a comprehensive transformation that will enhance efficiency, compliance and service delivery to the people of South Sudan” he said
He emphasized among other initiatives, they were going to roll out an e-tax payment system which is already underway, enabling taxpayers to remit taxes securely and conveniently through the e-service stating that it is a development of digital reporting and data management platforms for real-time revenue monitoring.
Akuei highlighted the need to build the institutions data centre which is the cornerstone of infrastructure development.
He underlined the development of technology solutions to minimize revenue leakages and reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies.
“We are working with the Rwanda Revenue Authority to bring in electronic billing machines that will help us to efficiently connect revenues in our country” Akuei added.
The SSRA creates systems and policies around taxation and collects revenue for the fiscal sustainability of South Sudan.
The e-Tax platform makes access to SSRA services convenient and also promote productivity and facilitate compliance while creating accountability.
The domestic tax division is critical to the enforcement of tax compliance for all taxpayers and would support public services, re-distributes income and secure sustained growth.
Some time back, the former Commissioner General Africano Mande, projected that the South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA) was likely to collect $190 billion in non-oil revenue for the fiscal year 2023-2024, exceeding the government’s target of $145 billion.