Unified Revenue Service rolls out e-billing regime by March 2026
The Botswana 2025/26 budget has confirmed the implementation of a mandatory e-invoicing (‘e-billing’) regime to complete by March 2026. This will include online tax filing systems, online customs declarations, and electronic payment (electronic funds transfer).
An e-billing pilot has been running for three years, and is due to end March 2025. This VAT e-billing system involves digitising the tax invoicing system to allow live updates of transactions to the tax agency.
Once this is completed, a two-year country rollout is planned to allow for infrastructure and connectivity upgrades.
The Unified Revenue Service had run a tender with providers at the end of 2023. The implementation is expected to take two years from December 2024.
BURS believes it is losing up to 60% of expected VAT revenues due to fraud.
Many other African states have now implemented mandatory e-invoicing and digital reporting, including: Kenya; Nigeria; and most recently, Egypt.
Continuous Transaction Control regime likely
There were no further details of the type of regime being adopted, but it could likely be a Continuous Transaction Control model.
