Mine companies that fail to pay royalties 14 days after the end of the month in which the sale of the minerals is done will be prohibited from conducting further business outside their mining areas when a bill before Parliament is enacted.
This is according to the Mine and Minerals Development Bill 2008 which was tabled before Parliament by Minister of Justice, George Kunda on Friday.
The proposed law will repeal and replace the Mines and Minerals Act of 1995.
“Where the holder of a mining right fails to pay any royalty payable on or before the due date or any extension thereof allowed by the Zambia Revenue Authority Commissioner General, the Commissioner General may by order served on the holder, prohibit the disposal of any mineral from the mining area concerned until an arrangement has been made that is acceptable to the Commissioner General for the payment of the royalties,” the bill reads.
The bill states that any holder of a mining right who contravenes or fails to comply with an order given commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.
In the case of a corporate body, it would be liable to a fine not exceeding one million penalty units.
“Where payment of any royalty is deferred, it shall be accumulated with any other deferred payment of royalty which is outstanding and the amount outstanding should be payable when the royalty is due,” the bill states.
It states that holders of large-scale mining and gemstone licences and small scale mining and gemstone licences shall pay a mineral royalty at the rate of three per cent of the normal value of the base metals produced or recoverable under the licence.
The bill is to be tabled in Parliament this week for second reading.
In the 1995 Mines and Minerals Act, a royalty is payable but calculated at two per cent of the market value of minerals, less the cost of smelting, refining and insurance, handling and transportation from the mining area to the point of export or delivery within Zambia.
Royalty payments could be deferred if the cash-operating margin of a holder of a large-scale mining licence falls below zero.
This Bill should as a matter of fact have been made more effective by making the consequences of failing to pay the tax gravely harzadous. For example, if an infestor defaults on payment of tax, deport him within 48 hours. If they play cocker and bacome abusive in addition to failing to pay, throw them in Chimbokaila for one month with an “appropriate husband” ready on hand before deporting them. If these measures are inserted in Kunda’s Bill, no infestor will ever insult us, they will follow the line and give ceaser what is due to him.
One more thing, if a Zambian conspires with infestors like we’ve seen of late by being their stinking mouthpiece, give him a necklace treatment like Winnie Mandela used to give to collaborators during the apartheid regime times.
the vehemence in #1 should ideally be translated to mean the writer supports the intended legislation!!! Its about time these “infestors” started dancing to OUR tune as the current govt. tries to undo the sell out agreements previously agreed.
ba shimaine pls twapapata-
ordinally Zambian pays half of their meagle salary to the GVT – in exchange for nothing but public theft
shame to the plunderers
i gues the mine taxes are meant to fatten some plunderers in the GVT
#4:I agree with your sentiments… especially the last sentence! Shame upon the plunderers…do they have a heart???
Enya lelo ndipo mwayoboya nadi! Bose abo batondeka kubadela chitupa mbwenu kubathena. Khuzi muchibaya is only one, govt and its law. Osati ba kambwe babwetukenge nyengo zose, balije na soni! I am ready to be employed as a bounty hunter, ndine munonono! We ride on hyena backs, fly on a saucer, ah bangati uli ba kambwe naba chaholi abo! Nyengo zose chiwawa kha! Bathu baving’unu aba, ndiposo bana visati! Sono ni nyengo yithu yakung’ada, tivinilepo na chimutali! Yayi taonga a Chuchu pa nchito yikulu iyo mukugwira! Na uyo mbuya Kunda lelo wayezyako, ujila ngwakuti chilimika chikwiza muzampulika kuti yayi nako kha plundurer! Tubathu utu, tukuselusyana! Ndine winu!
What is this? You mean the punishment will be no expansion but they can continue mining where they always do after not paying royalties? What a joke!
I’m appalled by some animosity towards investors (especially foreign). We should not underestimate the pivotal role investors are playing in the country. It’s true that many investors (world over) will exploit any loopholes in the taxt system, but we should not be used by politicians who want to take a hardline approach merely to hide their own incompetence in putting forward
a workable mineral taxation scheme.
Imwe ba LT please report properly. What Dante #7 is saying immediately caught my eye and I wondered whether it is what the bill says or it is just Lusaka Times giving us half-baked information. Please report correctly!
At least, some extra forex will be staying in our country. Bakaponya please start opening savings accounts now and start saving now, even K200,000 a month is okay. lets reposses our country.
Beware of foreign investors including the CHINESE. They have an insatiable greed and desire to externalize proceeds from mineral exports without giving back what is due to Zambia. We must open our eyes and appreciate that the fact that foreign investors don’t come to invest in Zambia because they like us or let alone care. To be candid we must start viewing investors as thieves and guard our God-given wealth with as much jealous as we possibly will. In the same vein thieving and conniving Zambian politicians need to STOP the ROT. A popular and Upright leadership is needed to foster development in Zambia.
Zambia ran the mining industry business fairly well under ZCCM untli corruption and mismanagement set in. All hell broke loose. Then came the IMF and World Bank with their stupid ideas and ill-conceived advice on wholesome privatization. Then one of the world reknowned thieves, FJT Chiluba, jumped in on the bandwagon and quickly sold all the mines and other major industries for what he termed “a song”. These are some of the scenarios that have given foreigners the impression that Zambians cannot develop and run mines and key industries. Capital and dedicated labor-force has been a serious impediment to economic and industrial development in Zambia. There are also other externalities involved
Only bone heads place national interest in the hands of foreigners. MMD have proven themselves incapable of raising the Zambian flag higher than KK by making sure that institutions place Zambians first and foreigners last. In MMD Zambia, ordinary citizens are not on the radar screen of decision makers at all. One has to look at Mutati, how much he worships chinese with his master, Levy. These guys have turned the Ministry of Commerce into another “Peking – New Delhi Trading Centre” without shame. All their actions and inactions always make China and India win hands down.