Challenges Facing the Property Tax Collection System: a Case Study of the City of Harare Municipality

Abstract

This article assesses the challenges facing the City of Harare’s property tax collection system and proposes measures to improve revenue collection. The research used interviews and questionnaires to collect data from the selected sample of 180 respondents that included municipality officials as well as 137 residents of Harare and 43 property tax administrators. The research used Excel to analyse the data. The findings from the study show that Harare Municipality is facing administrative challenges that have impacted its ability to meet revenue targets because they are not digitalised. Moreover, major challenges such as unawareness of property tax, inadequacy in the system and challenges associated with the digital era were also identified. This article suggests that the challenges can be resolved by investing in digital technology, infrastructure, taxpayer education, improving service delivery of water, road maintenance, refuse collection and street lighting, reducing political interference and improving transparency on the use of revenue from property tax.