BURS to squeeze every Pula as it chases the P60 billion target
With tax filing season looming, the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) has issued a stern warning to domestic taxpayers, as the taxman looks to smash the P60.475 billion target set for the 2025/26 financial year.
Amid plummeting mineral revenues, the government has shifted its hopes to BURS to raise the funds needed to bankroll the national budget.
As a result, the P60.475 billion, which is a substantial portion of the national revenue, includes P5 billion from Mineral tax, P12.1 billion from Value Added Tax, P19 billion from non-mineral income tax, and P24.4 billion from SACU receipts. These represent over 80% of the government’s total budgeted revenue and grants for the 2025/26 financial year.
Speaking at the launch of the 2025 tax filing season this week, BURS Commissioner General Jeanette Makgolo highlighted the need for robust domestic revenue collection, hence the theme “Mobilising Domestic Revenue: The Employer’s Role.”
“This is a call that speaks to the very heart of how BURS intends to build and sustain the nation. A call that reminds Batswana that tax compliance is not just a statutory requirement,” Makgolo stated. “It is a shared duty which is also a civic responsibility and a collective investment in Botswana’s future,” she said, further emphasizing that the path to national prosperity is paved not only by individual compliance but also by the central role that employers play in the tax ecosystem.
BURS is entrusted with the mandate of administering and enforcing Botswana’s revenue laws, collecting and accounting for taxes, and facilitating legitimate international trade. During the 2024/25 financial year, BURS exceeded expectations, surpassing a target of P58.704 billion with a record collection of P61.097 billion—a performance Makgolo believes they can replicate.
“Employers are the linchpin in ensuring that individual tax obligations are met efficiently, accurately, and on time, thereby enabling government to mobilize the resources needed for Botswana’s continued growth,” she explained. “What has brought us here today is the individual income tax or personal income tax, which refers to the total earnings of an individual from various sources such as wages, investment ventures, and other sources of income.”
Prompt submission of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) returns enables employees to file their tax returns on time, avoiding potential penalties and stress. All individuals with a gross income above P480,000 per annum are required to file a tax return, while those earning less, whose income is solely from a single employer and fully taxed through PAYE, are exempt—unless they have multiple sources of income, changed employers, or were employed for less than 12 months during the year.
Taxpayers have also been encouraged to utilize BURS’s digital platforms for seamless, anytime-anywhere filing. Employers, on the other hand, have been urged to guide their employees in submitting accurate and timely Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) filings and to issue necessary documents such as the ITW8 tax certificates for facilitation of timely submission of returns.
“These enhancements are part of our broader digital transformation strategy, which aims to make tax compliance more convenient, inclusive, and secure for all,” Makgolo added. “Your contributions are the enablers behind the government’s ability to deliver critical public services, develop infrastructure, empower our youth, and maintain national stability. Indeed, your tax Pula is a catalyst for transformation.”
She further advised that compliance is more than a statutory obligation but also a profound expression of faith in the taxman’s collective vision for a better nation.
