Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) collected Rwf 582.7 billion from tax revenues in the period July-Dec 2017 against a target of Rwf 572.6 billion, boosted by a strong economic environment.  This reflects an achievement of 101.8%, an excess of Rwf 10 billion above the target. When compared to the first semester of 2016/17 fiscal year, where RRA collected Rwf 507.5 billion, tax revenue collections grew by 14.8%. Non-tax revenue collections amounted to Rwf 8 billion compared to the target of Rwf 7.4 billion, which reflects a performance of 108.6%. It registered a year-on-year growth of 3.3%. Local Government (LG) taxes and fees collections amounted to Rwf 19.8 billion against a target of Rwf 19.1 billion, which reflects an achievement of 104%. This represents year-on-year growth of 19.9% and a nominal increase of Rwf 3.3 billion. Nominal tax revenue grew by 14.8% in Jul-Dec 2017, above the 8.5% recorded in Jul-Dec 2016 and the 10.7% average growth realised in July-December periods of last three years. Revenue growth was influenced by the following factors: Ø  Economic environment for Semester 1 of 2017/2018 The outturn of some of the macroeconomic indicators which were based on to project tax revenue for FY 2017/18 varied from projections: 1)      The economy was projected to grow by 6.5% during FY17/18 but the data released by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda shows a growth of 8 percent for the quarter 1 (July-September) of 2017/18. 2)      While inflation was forecast at 6.6% for FY 2017/18; the outturn was lower with inflation averaging 2.8 percent over July-December 2017. Ø  Rwanda is predominantly an agricultural economy, so a good agricultural season (real growth of 8% for quarter 1) resulted in good performance in revenue collections. Ø  Domestic Taxes Department arrears collection increased by 12 bn (72.8%); this high collection is especially attributed to arrears collections by the Larger taxpayer’s office. Ø  VAT turnover declared increased by 16.9%, compare 9.6 % in Jul-Dec 2016. (Examples of sectors that experienced high increase in VAT turnover include Wholesale & retail trade and Manufacturing). Ø  Petroleum imports for local consumption increased by 3% compared to July-December 2016 despite a 77% decrease (7.7m litres) in EUCL (Energy Utility Corporation Limited) imports. Ø  High public spending in July-December 2017 compared to July-December 2016 led to the good performance of Withholding taxes (WHT 15% Service fees and WHT3% on public tenders). Tax revenue performance by Tax Heads (Value in Rwf billion)

Tax heads	Target July-Dec  2017	Actual July-Dec 2017	Variance	% Achievement	Actual July-Dec 2016	% Change	Nominal increase
PAYE	138.7	136.5	-2.2	98.4%	124.8	9.4%	11.7
PROFIT TAX  (CIT,PIT & WHT)	90.0	97.8	7.8	108.7%	80.1	22.0%	17.6
VAT	187.1	196.6	9.5	105.1%	162.1	21.3%	34.5
EXCISE	76.3	71.0	-5.3	93.1%	67.0	6.0%	4.0
MINING ROYALTIES	1.7	2.4	0.7	140.5%	1.5	56.7%	0.9
IMPORT DUTY	39.8	40.1	0.2	100.6%	35.8	12.0%	4.3
ROAD FUND	23.9	23.5	-0.4	98.4%	22.8	2.9%	0.7
STRATEGIC RESERVES LEVY	5.6	5.0	-0.6	88.6%	5.0	-0.4%	0.0
INFRASTR. DEV. LEVY	5.6	5.7	0.1	101.6%	5.2	10.6%	0.5
OTHER TAXES	3.95	4.16	0.2	105.4%	3.11	33.7%	1.0
TOTAL TAX	572.6	582.7	10.0	101.8%	507.5	14.8%	75.2

Thank you TUSABE Richard Commissioner General