Q&A – 20 September 2010
Excluded to participate in Miss Tanzania
I am a 23 year old married woman who wanted to participate in the Miss Tanzania competition last year but my application was refused as I am not single. I have all the qualities to become Miss Tanzania and not let down the country like all former Miss’s. Isn’t this regulation not to allow married woman to participate discriminatory? I want to participate in such competitions-what do you advice?
RS, Dar
Much as we sympathise with you on the rejection to participate, we do not see anything discriminatory. It is true that failure to treat all persons equally, when no reasonable distinction can be found between those favored and those not favored, is against the law; in your case we do not see existence of such discrimination.
Just like other contests or competitions, the organizers of Miss Tanzania are free to pass their regulations and rules for eligibility in their beauty pageant. Yes, you might be beautiful and might perform better than all the other former Miss Tanzania’s, but the organizers cannot bend rules just for you. The rejection to participate could be looked at differently had the rules allowed married woman and you were rejected.
If your interest in participating in such contests still exists, you might want to check if there are any beauty contests for married woman, perhaps Mrs Tanzania. Our response to you should not be construed as saying married woman are any less beautiful than single woman.
After all, as the 3rd century Greek saying goes, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
TRA bullying us
Our company has heavily invested in Tanzania, and we expect returns in the long term. Over the past two years we have witnessed great bullying by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA). The manager in our region openly tells me that they have targets to meet and hence they are stricter. For example we get calls towards the end of the month to find out how much value added tax (VAT) we shall be paying. It seems like TRA are out to milk only the big corporates who are already paying a lot. There seems to be many untaxed people who TRA are not auditing. My question now follows. We have just been sent an assessment to pay taxes that have no justification whatsoever. It is merely an assessment and there has been no audit. The tax manager tells me that we can talk about reducing the liability. In our opinion we have no liability. In TRA’s opinion we owe them over Tsh 2 billion in taxes. The flip side is that TRA is yet to pay me back my VAT refund although I have been pushing for my refund for the past nine months. What should we do as this is likely reciprocal action by the TRA? How can foreign companies survive in Tanzania with such abuse of power?
FF, Dar
The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) is bound by the law and other rules and regulations. Much as the government wants to increase the amounts it collects through taxes, the TRA has to follow appropriate procedures. We are also shocked at how this assessment has just been issued without an audit, unless of course your company did not cooperate with the TRA during the audit or after.
As per the Tax Revenue Appeals Act, any person who disputes an assessment made upon him may,by notice in writing to the Commissioner General, object to the assessment and the notice of objection shall contain a statement in precise form, of grounds in respect of which the objection to an assessment is made, and shall be filed with the Commissioner General within thirty days from the date of service of the notice of the assessment.
Unfortunately by the time we answer this question, the thirty days have expired and we hope that you have already done this.
The only catch to this objection to the assessment is that when you file it, the person filing it must pay the amount of tax which is not in dispute or one third of the assessed tax, whichever amount is greater.
However if there exists good reasons warranting reduction or waiver of tax payable, the TRA may direct that a lesser amount be paid or waive the required tax deposit.
Should you still be aggrieved by the decision of the Commissioner General of TRA, you may appeal to the Tax Revenue Appeals Board with a further appeal chance to the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal. And if you are still aggrieved, a final appeal can be made to the Court of Appeal where the buck ultimately stops. We recommend that you follow the above procedure.
On the approach by TRA staff, please be advised that as part of its quality customer care, courtesy and friendly handling of taxpayers is key. Should you have complaints about this, please write to the commissioner general who should be able to address your concerns.
Husband has ‘nyumba ndogo’
We have been married under a Christian marriage for the past fifteen years and blessed with five children. I can prove that my husband has another girl and house, nyumba ndogo, in his life. Is this not a criminal offence? What action can I take?
BN, Dar
The nyumba ndogo is an Adulterous relation that your husband is engaged in. Adultery is defined as sexual intercourse between a married person with a person who is not that persons lawful spouse.
Unfortunately this is not a criminal offence in Tanzania, as in one cannot be arrested for being in this kind of a relation. If the behavior does not change or your relation is beyond repair, this is a ground for divorce.
You also have a right to sue the nyumba ndogo lady for damages, but such claim for damages can be thrown out by the Court if the Court is satisfied that you had done anything either by your conduct or act or omission to induce or force your husband to behave in this manner.