Businesses in Hawassa, Ethiopia Begin Using Cash Register Machines

Businesses in Hawassa, capital of the Southern Regional State, started using cash register machines as of last Thursday. VAT registered businesses in the city have transferred from using hand prepared VAT receipts to using the cash registers according to the report.

The cash register machines enable VAT registered businesses to abandon the use of VAT receipts except when power outages occur said Seleshi W/Mariam in charge of the tax awareness training process for the regional tax authority. The use of the electronic reporting machines ensures a smooth and speedy relationship between business and the tax authorities he explained. The system also avoids presumptive taxation according to Seleshi.

The businesses were offered preparatory training on the use of the machines and the legal and regulatory directives that go with them said Seleshi .

The use of the cash register machines in Hawassa is ground breaking for the Southern Regional State said Seleshi. It is expected that the system will be soon include tax payer in 21 regional town including Hossana, Atbaminch, Sodo, Dilla and Welayta he added.

There are 700 hundred VAT registered businesses in Hawassa including supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, construction companies and bar. The VAT registered Half of these business fall under the jurisdiction of the federal tax body while the other half are under the regional tax authorities.

The use of cash register machines has been enforced in Addis Ababa over the past two years by the Federal Tax body. The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority has given training to employees in regional offices in an effort to extend the use of the cash register machines to regional towns.

Source: Addis Fortune