Challenges facing the property tax collection system: A case study of the City of Harare municipality

• Author: Hamudi, S.
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.47348/AMTJ/V2/i1a15
• Published date: 28 March 2022
• Date: 28 March 2022
• Pages: 288-306

https://doi.org/10.47348/AMTJ/V2/i1a15 288

CHALLENGES FACING THE PROPERTY TAX COLLECTION

SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY OF THE CITY OF HARARE

MUNICIPALITY

OBSTACLES AU SYSTÈME DE COLLECTIONS DE LA TAXE

FONCIÈRE: CAS DE LA COMMUNE DE LA VILLE D’HARARE

DESAFIOS DO SISTEMA DE COBRANÇA DE IMPOSTOS

SOBRE A PROPRIEDADE: UM ESTUDO DE CASO DA CIDADE

DO MUNICÍPIO DE HARARE

Simbarashe Hamudi*

JEL cla ssific ation: E62

ABSTRACT

This arti cle assesses th e challenges fa cing the City of Ha rare’s property tax

collection syste m and proposes mea sures to improve revenue collec tion. The rese arch

used interv iews and questio nnaires to collect data from the se lected sample of

180 respondents tha t included municipality of ficials as well a s 137 residents of Harare

and 43 property t ax administrator s. The research u sed Excel to analyse the data.

The findi ngs from the study show th at Harare Municipality is facing administrative

challenges th at have impact ed its ability to meet r evenue target s because the y are

not digitalised. Moreover, major challe nges such as unawareness of property tax,

inadequacy in t he system and chall enges associ ated with the digit al era were also

identified. T his articl e suggests th at the challenges can be resolved b y investing in

digital technol ogy, infrastructu re, taxpayer educ ation, improvi ng service d elivery

of water, road mainte nance, refuse c ollection and str eet lighting, reduc ing political

interference and improving transparen cy on the use of revenue from prop erty tax.

Keywords: property tax, digitalisation, rates, revenue, municipality

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article é value les obstacl es auxquels fait fa ce la ville d’Harare c oncerna nt le

système de collec te de la redevanc e domaniale/ taxe fon cière et propose des mesures

pour améliorer la collecte des impôts. La reche rche a utilisé les i nterviews et

questionnaires pour collect er les données à partir des échantillons sélec tionnés de

180 répondants qui in cluaient des ag ents communa ux, ainsi que 137 habitant s

d’Harare et 43 agents de la t axe foncière. L’analyse des données s’est faite ave c

Excel. Les r ésultats de l’étude montre nt que la commune d’Ha rare est confrontée à

des obstacles d’ordre administratif qui inhibe nt sa capacité à at teindre ses objectifs en

matière de colle cte fiscale parce qu’elle n’est pas numé risée. De plus, ont été égale ment

identifiés p ar l’étude, les obstacles ma jeurs tels que l’ignora nce de la taxe fon cière,

l’inadéquation du systèm e, et les défis l iés à l’ère du numériqu e. Cet article pro pose

* Transfer Pricing Manager at Tax Matrix: simbarashehamudi@gmail.com.

(2022) 2 AMTJ 288

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CHALLENGES FACING THE PROPERTY TAX COLLECTION SYSTEM: A CASE

STUDY OF THE CITY OF HARARE MUNICIPALITY 289

https://doi.org/10.47348/AMTJ/V2/i1a15

que ces obstacl es peuvent être ré solus en investissa nt dans la techn ologie numér ique,

les infrastructures, l’éducation de s contribua bles, l’amélioration de la prov ision des

service s en eau, l’entretien des rou tes, la collecte des déchets ménagers et l’éclairage

public, la réduc tion des interféren ces politiques et l’amélioration de la tran sparence sur

l’utilisation des reve nus de la taxe foncière.

Mots-clé s : taxe foncière , numérisation , taux , revenu , commune

RESUMO

Este document o avalia os desafi os enfrentados pel o sistema de cobrança do imposto

predial na Cidade de Harare e propõe medidas para melhorar a ar recadação de

receitas. A inve stigação utilizou en trevistas e qu estionários pa ra recolher dados

da amostra selecci onada de 180 inquiridos qu e incluiu func ionários muni cipais,

bem como 137 residente s de Harare e 43 administrado res do imposto predial . A

investigação ut ilizou o Excel para analisar os dados. O s resultados do estudo mostram

que a Câmara Munic ipal de Harare enfrenta desa fios administrativos que afec taram a

sua capacidade de cumprir os objectivos em term os de receitas f iscais por não fazerem

uso de processos digitalizados. Além disso, foram t ambém identif icados grandes

desafios como o desconhecim ento do imposto predia l, a inadequaçã o do sistema e

também os desaf ios associados à e ra digital. Este doc umento sugere que os d esafios

podem ser resolv idos através do investi mento em tecnol ogia digital, infra -estruturas,

educação dos co ntribuintes, melhoria da pre stação de ser viços de abaste cimento de

água, manuten ção de estradas, re colha de lixo e ilumin ação pública , redução da

interfer ência política e melhor ia da transparência na utiliza ção das receitas do imp osto

predial.

Palavra s-chave: imposto predial, digitalizaç ão, taxas, receitas, município

I INTRODUCTION

Property taxation is one of the revenue-generating tools ava ilable to

local governments. It entails collecting propert y taxes and fees from

property owners and occupants as provided for by law (Mukarage,

2016). For communities, increasing the amount of propert y tax income

collected is a daily problem. Local govern ments enact policies and ru les

to stream line the proper ty ta xation process and make property tax

collection more ef fective and straightforward. Globa lly, property tax

is a critica l source of local ly raised revenue for municipal ex penditures

and a dependable internal revenue source for municipal governments.

Property tax has t raditionally been associated w ith local governments

because of its prominence and the inability of the tax object to relocate

as a result of t he imposed tax (Mosha , 2010). Becaus e of the link between

the types of services of fered by local government and the increase in

property va lues, propert y tax is regarded as a relevant local source of

revenue (Mosha, 2010).

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