THE Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has from January to September 2016 realised K520 million from tax cases which were investigated during the period under reveiew, says director (inspections) Moses Shuko.
Speaking at a press conference in Lusaka on Tuesday, Mr Shuko said out of the cases worth 520 million, 34 of them had been handled by the commission. “Total number of cases handled under investigations from January to September is 34 and in terms of total assessment raised from investigation cases is K520 million and 26 case are to do with retail sector,” he said.
Meanwhile, ZRA commissioner general Kingsley Chanda said total revenue collection currently stood at K23.4 billion against a target of K23.8 billion. “Our total collections so far stands at K23.4 billion against a target of K23.8 billion, so we were under target by K318.7 million,” he said. Mr Chanda also said ZRA had proposed to improvements in the tax legislation to ensure that the informal sector was taxed.
He explained that the legislation among others consisted of stiffening the penalty regime which was weak in the informal sector. “We know that the informal sector has the biggest economic activities in this country and most of these people are not registered for tax, so we have strategies such as we are proposing some improvements in our legislation to ensure compliance.
“This will relate to the penalty regime. We feel some people in the informal sector are not paying tax because the penalties are very weak.
We have had convictions in the past where people are fined K200 and they walk away, so now we intend to stiffen the penalties for tax evasion in the informal sector,” he said. Mr Chanda further said ZRA would also partner with the councils countrywide in taxing the informal sector while simplifying the payment system.
May ZRA give some kind of TAX amnesty to smmes ( Zambians only) and compel them to pay taxes going forward. Most of the small companies need some kind of tax amnesty. They may come up with penalties to pay to qualify for that. In doing that , they will start collecting more taxes. They need to encourage small business to pay taxes.
Have you collected from Fred M’mbe as well?
I agree. am one of those that paid K31,542 some years back as a result of non compliance and was forced to close my shop sending my 4 shop keepers out of employment plus my 65 year old watchman who died 9 months after closing my shop. Every time I see them, my heart breeds. while its true that I owed ZRA taxes – out of ignorance and lack of facilities for tax consultations, ZRA should have handled my case better than it did esp I served a very rural area and was not personally running the shop. I hope the K520 million was not collected at the expense of thousands of lives that have either stopped schools, died out of depression, kicked out of employment etc and in the process reduce future taxes. ZRA has, honestly, a bigger role to play than collecting taxes
When you open a business, you need business management skills either yourself or hire someone to look at the tax side of your business. Without that the end result is that you will close. Taxes are only paid from profits and if you are not making a profit, all you need to do is to prove that, and nobody will force you to pay anything. Infact there are tax relief schemes available to claim against future profits if you are making losses currently. Meaning that the first profits you will make in future will be tax free until all previous losses have been accounted for. So to think ZRA is against businesses is just lack of information.
Me, Zambians like you make me proud and free. More of your brains and Zambia shall excel.
Did they recover tax from K23MILLION LUNGU made in 1year.
17%xK23M=K3.91million
The ROT starts from the HEAD. Even when ACC failed to prosecute FTJ, it became the most useless toilet tissue in Zambia.
When ConCourt failed to address petition, it became a used toilet tissue.
Maloza who told you Lungu owes ZRA or you are speaking out of bitternes due to political inclination. I thought Lungu just declared assest worth the amount you are mentioning. I like minds like ME and others its very progressive and I have been encouraged to start managing my business properly and pay taxes where deemed due. BRAVO zambian minds.