Dear ZIMRA: How about paying taxes through mobile money?

In Kenya it’s now possible to pay taxes via mobile money. According to a recent report in Mobile Money Africa, mobile operator Airtel has partnered with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to introduce the new service.

This service will allow subscribers to inquire about KRA services, generate a KRA payment reference number which will be a PRN or an e-slip/invoice number, and make simple payments through Airtel Money.

The e-slip or reference number can be acquired on the KRA website and also via mobile for services that include mobile vehicle transfer, motor vehicle inspection payments, logbook payments and driver’s license application and renewal payments.

This level of mobile commerce innovation would undoubtedly be welcome by local taxpayers if the entities involved introduced it. Handling ZIMRA payments is hardly an enviable task and just like how we gladly handle DStv , ZINWA and school fees payments via EcoCash, Telecash and OneWallet, the option for ZIMRA would be a huge relief.

The same system could also solve problems for other services like motor vehicle licence and registration payments. For mobile networks trying to come up with new revenue streams the payment of taxes through mobile money also seems like something worth considering.

Then again, if this comes to Zimbabwe it wouldn’t be surprising  to see Econet and Telecel being subjected to some form exclusion from ZIMRA, a state entity, like what happened with ZESA.

Even if ZIMRA were to take the same patriotic stance taken by ZESA in working with its cousin NetOne for the introduction of the system, it would still be a faster and more convenient option that would go a long way to make a difficult process so much simpler.

What other services do you think we should be paying for through mobile money services locally?