Nortal to develop tax admin solution for Botswana

Multinational strategic change and technology company Nortal will create a new tax management and revenue collection solution for the Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) to increase revenue collection and reduce the administrative burden. The solution will be implemented in stages over 18 months by the beginning of 2019.

According to Andres Raieste, Head of Public Finance Management at Nortal, by increasing the efficiency of revenue collection and reducing the administrative burden for the state, entrepreneurs and taxpayers alike, the new solution will boost overall economic growth in Botswana, reduce the tax gap and increase transparency while reducing costs.  

The system being built for the Botswana taxation authority will replace the existing tax system entirely, introducing substantial change to the organization’s work processes and new concepts such as risk management. “The solution will help to build a smarter and more efficient organization that makes better decisions,” added Raieste. 

The foundational principle of the system, according to Raieste, is the full integration of core tax management concepts. “The system prioritizes work based on risk-scoring, allowing BURS to focus their efforts where they matter most, providing an efficient and transparent service for the end-user,” said Raieste.

In order to achieve increased tax compliance and lower the tax gap, the solution will include tax intelligence and risk management solutions. According to Raieste, this solution will act as a basis for improving fiscal policy and tax regulations, providing much needed information for better process management and everyday investigation tasks for detecting suspicious activities. 

Nortal has been a partner and vendor for some of the most efficient tax organizations in the world, and has built roughly a third of Estonia’s e-government solutions. Among other major projects, the company played a substantial role in helping to create an acclaimed tax solution ranked as the most competitive tax system in the OECD, according to the Tax Foundation report.

The company also has previous experience in Botswana, creating the original e-tax system in 2014. The solution brought tax declarations online and eased the tax filing process considerably, making it possible to fill a tax declaration in 5 minutes instead of hours spent in line and filling out extensive paperwork.  

“We are looking forward to further exporting our knowledge and expertise to the region and introducing Estonian tax collection and public finance best practices,” added Raieste.

 Nortal is a multinational strategic change and technology company. Combining the unique experience of transforming Estonia into a digital leader and creating change in businesses with a strategic approach and data-driven technology, our vision is to build a seamless society. Nortal operates in nearly 20 countries and employs over 550 specialists who carry out high-impact projects across Europe, Middle East, Africa and North America.