TRA at 30: How Tanzania built a giant — and what comes next

The numbers tell a remarkable story of institutional transformation.

Yet beyond the statistics lies a broader narrative about Tanzania's economic evolution, growing formalisation of businesses, technological advancement and a gradual shift towards financing national development through domestic resources rather than external support.

As TRA celebrated its 30th anniversary on Wednesday evening, President Samia Suluhu Hassan described domestic revenue mobilisation as central to Tanzania's future economic independence.

"The world is changing rapidly. We are witnessing declining foreign aid, increasing borrowing costs and growing demands from our citizens.

This means we must strengthen our capacity to mobilise domestic revenue and build an economy that is largely self-reliant," she said.

Her remarks come at a time when many developing countries are grappling with shrinking donor support and increasingly expensive international borrowing, making domestic taxation more important than ever.

From paperwork to digital taxation

Few institutions illustrate Tanzania's economic transformation as clearly as TRA.

When the authority was established in 1996, tax administration relied heavily on manual systems. Revenue collection was fragmented, taxpayer records were limited and compliance monitoring was difficult.

Today, electronic tax payments, digital customs systems, online taxpayer registration and electronic fiscal devices have significantly changed the landscape.

TRA Commissioner General Yusuph Mwenda says these reforms have been instrumental in driving revenue growth.

"In the 2025/26 financial year, TRA collected Sh37.95 trillion against a target of Sh36.07 trillion, achieving 105 percent performance," he noted.

The authority has now surpassed its revenue targets for 24 consecutive months, a feat Mr Mwenda described as unprecedented in the institution's history.

The growth has coincided with an expansion of the authority's operational capacity. TRA offices have increased from 95 to 323 nationwide, while staffing has grown from 924 employees to 8,790.

Tax experts say this expansion has helped bring services closer to taxpayers while improving enforcement and compliance monitoring.

According to economist and tax policy analyst Tumaini Mfumbata, the most significant achievement has been the broadening of the tax base rather than merely increasing tax rates.

"The success we are witnessing today is largely a result of bringing more economic activities into the formal economy and leveraging technology to improve compliance," he told The Citizen in an interview.

He argues that countries that successfully expand their tax base tend to achieve more sustainable revenue growth than those relying solely on higher tax rates.

The taxpayer factor

While technology and institutional reforms have played a major role, TRA officials insist taxpayers themselves remain the backbone of the authority's success.

"We congratulate and thank all taxpayers because, without them, we would never have achieved these results," Mr Mwenda said during the anniversary celebrations.

This year's inaugural Presidential Taxpayer Awards reflected a growing recognition of taxpayers as development partners rather than simply revenue sources.

Among the institutions recognised was NMB Bank, which received special recognition for its contribution to government revenues over the years.

President Hassan echoed similar sentiments, emphasising that trust remains essential for future revenue growth.

"When taxpayers are treated with fairness, respect and professionalism, they develop greater trust in TRA and in the government. Trust creates more trust," she said.

The importance of revenue mobilisation has grown alongside Tanzania's development ambitions.

Taxes collected by TRA now finance a substantial share of government spending on education, healthcare, roads, water projects and energy infrastructure.

The authority's next challenge may be even greater than the progress achieved over the past 30 years.

Tanzania's newly launched Development Vision 2050 envisages transforming the country into a middle- and eventually high-income economy, with ambitions that include industrial expansion, technological advancement and increased competitiveness.

Achieving these goals will require substantially larger domestic revenues.

Mr Mwenda says TRA's Seventh Corporate Plan aligns with the country's long-term aspiration of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy.

Key priorities include expanding the tax base, combating smuggling and illicit trade, strengthening international taxation, investing in staff capacity and enhancing digital tax systems.

The next frontier

Despite impressive progress, experts caution that significant challenges remain.

A large portion of Tanzania's economy still operates informally, limiting the country's revenue potential.

Small businesses continue to face compliance challenges, while rapid growth in digital commerce requires increasingly sophisticated tax administration.

For TRA, therefore, the next chapter may be less about collecting more taxes and more about collecting taxes smarter.

The challenge now is whether the institution can build on that foundation to support the country's next phase of transformation—one increasingly driven by domestic resources, taxpayer confidence and economic self-reliance.