The Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) says it is investigating a number of Botswana’s millionaires and expects to bring some to the court of law in due course.
The investigations were confirmed by Kaone Molopo, the General Manager of Compliance at BURS, in an interview with Sunday Standard.
“Those who thought that BURS is a toothless dog got it all wrong,” he said, adding that the public should know that BURS has its own team which investigates people who do not pay tax.
“Currently, BURS investigators are busy investigating some millionaires as well as some individuals who evade tax,” he revealed. “I, however, cannot reveal the names of those being investigated because that might compromise our investigations.”
Molopo said once the investigations are complete, the dockets will be referred to the Directorate of Public Prosecution.
He said BURS is fully aware of those people who have a tendency of evading taxes and BURS will be after them.
“If we suspect that a particular person is making a lot of money but the person is not paying tax, the law allows us to check your accounts as well as the motor vehicles that the person owns through the assistance of the Transport Department,” he said.
Molopo further said one can make an arrangement with his office on how to pay back tax but if it involves fraud the matter goes straight to court.
He warned those who have a tendency of avoiding paying tax to think twice.
BURS recently swooped on Zimbabwean millionaire, Patrick Dowera, owner of Landscape Decorators Botswana (Pty) Ltd, and confiscated all his belongings, including his expensive clothing.
Molopo said the suspect owns BURS about P4, 5 million, adding that his property will be sold in order to recover the tax that he owes the government.
