The tax administration
Local government tax collection is the responsibility of the council staff, and is
completely separated from the central government. In district councils it is
organised around three levels, namely the council headquarters, the wards and the
village levels. At the sub-village level, the kitongoji leader is responsible for
mobilising taxpayers.
At the council headquarters the responsibility for tax collection rests with the
council treasury, headed by the District Treasurer (DT). At the ward levels, the
responsibility rests with the office of the Ward Executive Officer (WEO). The
WEO also handles developmental issues and law-and-order functions at that level.
As such they have access to the local militia. In wards with greater revenue
potential there will also be a ward revenue collector (WRC) to support the WEO.
At the village level, the responsibility rests with the office of the village executive
officer (VEO). The VEO is also responsible for village developmental issues.
These officers are nominated to their position by the village governments, but
appointed and employed by the council. The system of nomination ensures that
the VEOs come from the villages of their domicile. At the sub-village level the
kitongoji leader is responsible for mobilising taxpayers.
In practice, however, organisation of tax collection may vary between councils. For
instance, in Kilosa DC the village level has been excluded from collection, which
has been taken over by the ward level. According to the district treasury staff, this
was due to incentive problems connected with tax collection at the village level.
One problem arises from the presence of two principals for the VEOs, i.e., the
village government as the nominating authority and the council as the appointing
and employing authority, leading to divided loyalty. Another problem arises from
VEOs operating within their areas of domicile. Lack of arm’s-length relationship
between tax collectors and taxpayers introduces economics of affection into