Overview
The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) was established by the proclamation No .587/2008 on 14 July 2008, by the merger of the Ministry of Revenue, Ethiopian Customs Authority and the Federal Inland Revenue Authority for the purpose of enhancing the mobilization of government revenues, while providing effective tax and Customs administration and sustainability in revenue collection. The main objective of the establishment of ERCA was to streamline the public revenue generation function by bringing the relevant agencies under the umbrella of the central revenue collector body. This structuring aimed at improving service delivering, facilitating trade, enforcing the tax and customs laws and thereby enhancing mobilization of Government revenue in sustainable manner. A study called "Business Process Re-engineering" had taken place before the merger of the foregoing administrations. The study was undertaken for a year and half beginning from November 2007 by teams of officials selected from within the administration. The study has looked into the selected key business processes and has come across inefficient organizational structure and unnecessary complicated procedures that permitted insufficient service delivery. The study has also indicated that there was corruption within the administrations and that smuggling and tax evasion were serious problems. These problems have depressed the attempt of the foregoing administrations to be successful in achieving their objectives.