By Staff Writer
ADDIS ABABA – (BORKENA) – Things are turning bad in Amhara Region where taxes were not collected properly due to the ongoing war, sources said.
Deputy Head of the Regional Revenue Bureau, Fikre-Mariam Dejene, told Voice of America, Amharic service that only one third of the tax has been collected so far. This was the amount that was supposed to be collected at the beginning of the Ethiopian fiscal year, according to the news source.
In particular, in the western areas of the Region, where the current peace disruption has deteriorated, it was planned to collect more than 17 billion birr, but in reality, it was possible to collect only 6.2 billion birr, Fikre-Mariam said.
The Deputy Head of the Regional Revenue Bureau said that the stated amount of revenue was low and if the conflict continues, the Region may lose the capability to pay salaries to government employees, according to VoA.
The businessmen, whom VoA talked to in connection with the issue, pointed out that their shops were closed due to the conflict. They were enquiring in surprise how they were expected to pay tax in such a situation in which they were not in business activities, VoA said. The economist, Yirga Tesfaye pointed out that failing to collect tax will cause an economic, social and political crisis in the Region.
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