Understanding tax disputes settlement in Tanzania

The recent years have witnessed several phenomenal changes in tax administration in Tanzania. Tax levels have increased whereas technologies and the techniques used to assess and collect taxes have relatively changed. On the other hand, an integrated tax appeals system has been established marking an official shift from the old, classical-disjointed and practically dysfunctional tax-type model, which hitherto characterized tax dispute settlement to a unified, integrated, cross-cutting and functional model which characterize modern tax administration. This study is chiefly concerned with understanding the working of the tax dispute settlement in Tanzania. It explores, analyses and explains the basic and functional features which characterize the tax revenue dispute settlement machinery of Tanzania. To this end, the relevant statutory and case law is keenly scrutinized to understand the basic terrain upon which the tax appeals system is built and to appreciate the fundamental principles and the underlying revenue policy upon which the system works. Chapter one introduces the subject of the study and serves as a road-map for conducting this study. The survey of law and practice in East Africa in chapters two, three and four reveals that each East African country has a characteristically different system for setting tax disputes. The study specifically shows that the Tanzania’s tax appeals machinery is premised on the primary of maximum collection of revenue and is inhibitive to legal challenges by taxpayers,