Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) says it had a successful performance last year and exceeded its revenue target by K379 .1 billion.
The authority has since attributed its positive performances to a conducive macroeconomic environment, support from government and compliance by tax payers.
Addressing the media during g the end of year briefing, ZRA Commissioner General Chriticals Mwansa disclosed that the authority was given a target of K7, 814 billion or 17.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but collected K8,193 .8 billion or 17.9 percent of GDP.
“This favourable tax revenue performance was largely attributed to higher collections under company tax, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), withholding tax, excise duty, import duty, customs duty and medical levy,’ he added.
He said ZRA would scale up co-operation so as to enhance information and data sharing for purposes of widening the tax net.
He added that the commission would continue to implement the modernization program that is aimed at improving internal operational efficiency and reduce compliance cost borne by taxpayers.
Mr. Mwansa further disclosed that ZRA through intensified investigations on deliberate tax evasion activities successfully prosecuted 14 tax payers who were convicted in the courts of law.
And ZRA is to introduce mobile scanners that are expected in the country in March this year to enable the authority to see what goods are in the containers without opening cargo.
He said the service, is among other measures that ZRA introduced last year in its effort to improve operations.
Other measures include the rehabilitation and construction of new infrastructure in some of the boarder posts and stations and the launch of a customs accredited clients program that is intended to recognize and reward compliance efforts by importers through speedy clearance of their consignments at the borders.
ZRA says capturing the informal sector and those operating cash businesses in the tax net has remained a challenge to the institution.
ZRA Commissioner General Chriticlas Mwansa says the authority would this year undertake capturing of the informal sector seriously.
He however pointed out that challenges can only be overcome by fostering strategic partnerships among all the stakeholders especially the general public.
And Commissioner for Domestic Tax, Wisdom Nhekairo has disclosed that the implementation of the pre-emptive tax introduced on buses was a success in rural areas.
He said it was easy for ZRA to collect tax in rural areas because buses operate from one location unlike in urban areas where the operators keep changing their location.
Mr. Nhekairo said ZRA has not failed to implement the tax net, but regretted that bringing every operator in the tax net was a big challenge.
Meanwhile Mr. Mwansa says the introduction of the customs union in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa a(COMESA) and South Africa Development Community (SADC) would generate activities in the economy that will cushion the loss of revenue.
He however stated that the authority was aware of some of the frauds that people would want to engage in so as to benefit from the trade agreements.
He said there are possibilities that people might want to cheat on the origins of goods and transits of such goods so as to benefit from the Customs Unions (CUs)
There is no such thing as surplus or exceeding targets when it comes to taxing the citizens. It is plain and simple OVER-TAXATION, issue tax refunds to us immediately for the balance before it is used on stupid by elections!
Govt. through ZRA is celebrating overtaxing and overburdening the impoverished citizenary. There is nothing to boast of when the milked resources go to the few previliged individuals.
Let parliament re look on the tax structure (require broadening). Currently, it is lopsided as only a few in formal employment and companies are paying huge taxes.
Taxation is the only way forward for Zambia’s economic. Pls introduce capital gains tax and inheritance tax. The too will narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. Inctrease company tax to 54%. Government no longer owns companies, so it is necessary to get more before shareholders take their part.
at least the tax evaders out there are seemingly being caught.Dante#1,why rush to the negative side of this news?Exceeding revenue targets can equally mean the culprits who evade tax and place unnecessary burdens on the rest of us are finally and systematically being caught!!!( or is this why you are complaining ??)
How can they fail to deal with transporters. What they need to do is to introduce a license renewal very year where ZRA can scrutinize them b4 the license is renewed bingo! The tax base needs broadening its true so that the few over-taxed employees in the formal sector can be spared.
What about pirate taxis? They are clearly more of these than the blue cabs, have they thought of how they can bring these into the tax dragnet, though of course it will be difficult due to their high mobility. Original Pundit, forced registration, maybe?
Target is always underestimated for lack of calculated foresight or to allow room for stealing. Exceeds should in fact be in trillions. ZRA needs overhaul.
Why some of you people comment on things you don’t understand? If you are a negative person, you better comment on politics than on real issues…
#1 Dante is right. If ZRA is beyond its target, then they overtaxed.
we’re paying high taxes fine,but the real question should be-is this excess tax payers money being channelled to building our dilapidated infrastructure?Answer is a big NO.Magande even talks of unspent budgetary allocations!yet our schools,hospitals,roads,even zesco infrastructure remains in a deplorable state.Levy,if you’re such a genius at collecting surplus tax kwachas and have a surplus budget,what the hell are you doing with all this liquid cash?
don’t tell us you’ve over collected tax,instead,tell us what you’ve built with all that cash.Time for rhetoric is long gone,Levy and your goon squad,pls get your act together,the common man on the street is not feeling the trickle effects of your magandenomics!
#10&11 The unused surplus tax is being kept safely in the bank until when Chuchu’s govt is about leave then it will disappear in thin air.
Double standards in deed, ZRA has a surplus of K 397 billion and yet people are starving to death in Zambia. Just a while ago , Magande was telling the nation of his surplus. These thugs in government need to understand that Zambia is for all, rich and poor. Wealth should be distributed equally.
Am not partizan, but KK had a vision for the country despite his mistakes to hold on to power. Everyday, each minister is openning his or her mouth of positive statistics, which are false.
#13,I agree with you mwana,the numbers simply don’t add up to what’s happening on the ground.We can’t even manage simple floods and cholera is an annual occurence.You’re right,KK may have been a dictator but he was a genuinely honest bali with a great vision for our beloved Zed.Ka Kafupi messed up everything and chi Levy (even though better than Kafupi)is simply full of rhetoric.It’s stupid for Magande to say there’s money lying around when our people are impoverished!
viva big poppa viva solution mwalasa
True bane, we are living in a typical Animal Farm. These punks in govt are just hell bent on become president! Greedy Greedy Greedy, thats all they are.
Even a four year old boy can see that the numbers dont add up as big poppa & solution said.
We need to the draw the line between taxation vs. overtaxation? I think that the bottom line is a need to elect leaders who pledge to provide the services we expect and who can be trusted. Then, we all have the democratic priviledge and responsibility to keep in touch with our representatives to let them know how OUR money should be spent . Here in Canada the govt. has continuosly ran surpluses with the recent one being $13 Billion, the difference is the Finance Minister pays down the debt,
contd… slashes taxes about 3% already on retail taxes and much more on manufacturing taxes. He does so after consultantions with MPs who get input from townhall meetings. One thing the Canadian knows is that it not a good performance indicator to have a surplus but clearly an issue of overtaxing. They are however content to paying down the debt, getting refunds and things like environmental programs. So in governments SURPLUS = OVERTAXATION, plain and simple!
Dante(18),your take on the “surplus” collection by ZRA is misplaced.have you considered these scenarios:1. the target was understated knowing full well they would exceed it thus pleasing the bosses 2.during the year there was unexpected import activity that increased revenues3. the reported year ZRA was in receipt of deferred taxation revenue 4.ZRA has found a way of catching tax evaders etc etc.Dante,you don’t know enough about what caused the surplus so cool down!!
#19 your response is filed with variables, yes I am not a tax expert but not a fool. You are throwing stuff all over hoping one of your reasons will stick to the wall. Look at Mwansa’s statement, he confirms that the windfall is mostly from PAYE. My point is broaden the tax base, the hard working low/middle class shouldn’t be paying throughout just because it’s easy to collect from them.Put those books aside for a minute and think out of the box.
#19! even Magande agrees with me that he has been OVERTAXING the most vulnerable.
“Magande also proposed to revise Pay As You Earn (PAYE) by increasing the non-taxable monthly threshold income from K500,000 to K600,000 while those getting over K4 million per month would be paying 35 per cent instead of the previous 30 per cent effective April 1, 2008.”
Get serious!! Am i to be Proud that the Govt exceeded its target by almost 400 Billion Kwacha. Excuse the tax payers but thats not pocket change!!! 400000000. Thats alot of Zeros!!!! What are their expectations for this year i wonder?will they be disappointed at years end? ir will we?
Its quite apalling to read of such good knews about be adressed. I am extremely dissappointed at the way, the ZRA Tax colectors, coniving with clearing Agents are swindling customers of their monies and damaging their carsonthe pretex of implementing the ZRA policy. It has been a big detriment to buy vehicles,whilst working outside Zambia, to import vehicles into there without losing huge amounts of money. In my case being a female and buting a good car, thinking I would increase on the Tax the Government is collecting, i fell prey to the lust of the Collectors at the Chirundu Border, who conived with a clearing agent and cheated me out of monies and one vehicle and drove it, and damaged.
The other thing that has suprised me is that, what the Tax Collectors at the border are doing is totally different from what is potrayed on the ZRA website.I am appealing to the ZRA commissioner to consider putting law enforcement officials at the borders, who are skilled, without lust for what is not of their worth and those capable of collecting tax and not embarassingly damaging what they have fraudulently procured. What I have gathered from my experience witht the ZRA is that those Collectors at Chirundu Border with the known Clearing Agent, have cost the Zambian Government loss of huge amounts of monies in Duty free cleared vehicles and at the same time cost importers losses
Is this positive reporting by the ZRA. I am one of the dissapointed with the way the ZRA is implementing their policy at the border of Chirundu. We need change, not just reporting of huge amounts of tax collected, when there are cases of criminality happening at the Border area. The most painful thingof this is that despite reporting to ZRA manahgement, no remedy has been done. So this has to be taken to Parliament for discussion. I am not proud of the ZRA. We need a more proactive and accountable ZRA capable of taking responsibility of their actions as they are contributing to the economic crisis by causing us huge losses for abusing their authority.
I don’t think that was a succeful target going by my experience, as high levels of poverty are stil countryspread despite ZRA reporting success, its only their collectors who seem to be living a life we cannot understand.
Call it succeful if you are able to steer the poverty levels and not increasing to the poverty levels yet you bost of collecting Taxes.
How??????
I even wonder why ZRA is boasting of what they collected last year when the Government has ot been able to pay what it owes its citizens. Boast when you are collectly correctly, without cheating us, and abusing your responsibilites and then channel the monies to improve Zambia’s economy. AND let Government pay us whay they owe us.
The ZRA is not implementing its policy in a fair and decent manner. Us th public have been harrased and feel some Government Officials are using t he ZRA to harras other People.
This is also worsened by the high rates of White Collar Crimes going un-punished with ZRA officals being suspected of corruption in allowing in Duty Free clearances acting in collusion with clearing agents and stealing vehicles from unsuspecting clients using clearing Agents for those abroad, and serving themselves seisure notices of clients viehcles beind their backs and then enjoying drives and damaging customers vehicles in the name of implementing the ZRA Policy.We need new management atr ZRA.
We have also heard that ZRA Officials have been driving Diplomats car and despite reports made to their Commisioner, Mr Muyangwa seems incapable to dealing with the nature of criminality and misconduct by his officers, let alone to justify a seizure notice kept by ZRA officials themselves after STEALING AND damaging a genuine purchasers car, who did not fail to pAY DUTY JUST because that buyer works outside the country.
Is President Rupiah Banda allowing this scorge or supporting his inheritence from the Late President as some of these people got jobs by associating withthe family tree and not on merit.
Zambians why are we damaging our economy.
ZRA this is unacceptable, you should collect taxes, not steal.