www.statusin.org

Name of the Organization : Botswana Unified Revenue Service
Type of Facility : VAT & Income Tax Registration
Country : Botswana

Official Website : http://www.burs.org.bw/

Tax Registration :

It is a requirement that any person earning taxable income should accordingly register with BURS so that the income can be assessed and taxed on submission of the tax return.

Related : Botswana Unified Revenue Service Online Tax Payments & Refunds : www.statusin.org/5130.html

2011 tax Amendments makes it compulsory for all persons with taxable income in excess of P36000 per annum to register and file a return even if the only source of income is employment which has been taxed at source through PAYE.

The changes – requirements for registration :
1. Private Companies :
The following forms (certified copies) should be included in the application form (BURS 1) :
** Form 4 – Certificate of Incorporation
** Form 2A – List of Directors and Secretaries
** Form 2B – Consent and certificate of Director(s)
** Form 2C – Details on share capital
** Form 2D – Consent of Directors on share capital

Note :
** Every director and secretary listed in Form 2A should complete Form 2B. If Form 2A states that there are three directors, then there should be three Form 2B and one for the secretary.
** If there is a change of Directors or secretary, then Forms 13 and 14 should also be submitted. It is also important to note that if Forms 13 and 14 are submitted, they should reconcile with the original Forms 2A and B.
** If there is a change of a registered office,Form 15 should be submitted.

If there is any change of name, it should be reflected in Form 4.2. Closed Companies

The following forms (certified copies) should be included in the application form (BURS 1) :
** Form 4 – Certificate of Incorporation showing CC after the name.
** Form 2E – List of members of the Close Company
** Form 2F – Consent by each member in the Close Company.
** Form 2G – Appointment of an Accounting Officer

The above requirements are contained in the New Companies Regulations 2007.

2. Old regulations relating to registration of companies :
These Old Regulations are still applicable to companies registered before the new regulations came into effect on 3rd July 2007. Note that any companies registered after this date are affected by the new regulations.

The requirements are as follows (certified copies) :
** Form 3 – Certificate of Incorporation replaced by Form 4
** Form 2 – List of Directors replaced by Form 2A
** Memorandum & Articles of Association.

Note :
Form BURS 1 gives options of registering for Income Tax (Assessed Tax), Withholding Tax, Other Withholding Tax and Capital Transfer Tax.

3. Individuals :
When registering as an individual taxpayer, the same application form i.e. BURS 1 is used for the purpose. Certified copies should be submitted

For employment cases, a copy of Omang or Identity Document , residence permit and work permit should be enclosed.

For an individual doing some business, a copy of Form RBN A should also be submitted.

4. Other taxpayers :
As mentioned above, the same registration form (BURS 1) is used to register other taxpayers not mentioned above.

These are :
** Trusts – Certified copy of Trust deed should be enclosed.
** Partnership – Certified copy of Partnership agreement should be enclosed.
** Estate – Certified copy of Will
** Fund – Certified copy of Fund rules
** Body of Persons – Certified copy of constitution

Value Added Tax (VAT) :

The requirements for registering for VAT is that any person making taxable supplies with a value of more than P500,000.00 per anum must register for VAT. Similarly, a person is required to register for VAT if he knows or believes that the value of his taxable supplies in the next twelve month period will exceed P500,000.00 per annum.

A person making taxable supplies with a value less than P500 000.00 may apply to be registered voluntarily. This may be important for a small enterprise making zero – rated supplies (e.g. exports) or those who need to have Tax invoices so that they can claim credits for the VAT payable on inputs. Approval by the Commisioner General is required for voluntary registration.

It is a requirement to register for Income Tax before registering for VAT as the Income Tax TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) will be used to get the VAT Number.

The following forms should be included in the application Form (BURS1) :
** Form 3 – Certificate of Incorporation(certified copy)
** Form 2 – List of Directors (certified copy)
** List of Assets
** Certified copies of Omang for Directors
** Certified copies of Residence Permits and Work Permits for non residents.

Forms : http://www.burs.org.bw/index.php/forms

eServices: https://eservices.burs.org.bw/burs-etax/login?_cid=e92b52c2-560c-4039-8873-a1c02c7c2327