Regulation of Property Tax in Tanzania: Legal and Administrative Challenges

Abstract

Property tax represents one among the most feasible, conventional, steady and progressive source of revenue. Nonetheless this form of tax has not received the attention it requires for effective contribution towards revenue generation in developing countries. The situation is however different in developed countries which have made concerted efforts to tap the potentials of property tax to achieve both fiscal and non-fiscal advantages for their communities. While taking this into account the current article conceptualizes the basic principles underlying property taxation as one among the forms of direct taxation while underscoring its value to revenue generation in general perspective. Thereafter specific analysis is made towards its practical regulation in a Tanzanian standpoint in terms of specific laws and regulatory machineries in the country. The analysis revolves around the effectiveness of the existing tax laws and regulatory machineries in ensuring optimum contribution by property tax to the country’s revenue basket. On the basis of doctrinal and empirical data it is revealed that despite its potential to contribute to revenue generation, property tax still faces a number of both legal and non- legal challenges in its administration in the country. The legal challenges include poor legal definition on the concept of property, the flat rate structure on property tax, low deterrence effect of the penal sanctions. The non-legal challenges on the other hand include low registration of property owners and properties for identification purposes, irregular valuation process, low taxpayer education on property tax affecting voluntary property tax compliance and lacking resources for property tax administration by the respective regulatory machineries. As a way to remedy the situation the paper provides a number of legal and non-legal intervention measures. The intervention measures take account of the importance of taxation for developing countries Tanzania inclusive, thus recommending solutions which reasonably combine regulatory convenience with equity and effectiveness. The recommendations are an output of theoretical data, empirical findings and specific international best practices on property taxation. The recommendations focus on legal clarification of the tax base, the method and basis for valuation and provision of required resources for enforcement of relevant laws on property taxation.