Thursday, March 28, 2024

ZRA plans to collect tax from marketeers, taxis and buses

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The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) says it is expanding the national tax bracket to include the informal sector and appoint agents to collect the base tax on behalf of the authority.

ZRA Corporate Communication Manager Topsy Sikalinda said the authority intends to intensify collection of presumptive and withholding tax on rental income.

Mr. Sikalinda told ZANIS in an interview in Siavonga that ZRA has a plan of expanding and collecting base tax that looks at marketeers and presumptive tax that applies to taxis and bus owners.

He said that the authority intends to improve tax pay education in 2018 and has decided to hold a workshop for business editors and reporters to enhance the dissemination of information to the general public.

Mr. Sikalinda reiterated the importance for editors and reporters to understand the role and operations of the Zambia Revenue Authority in order, to translate it to the general public.

He stated that the workshop that is running from the 13th to 14th of November this year will be facilitated by eminent media consultants and economist such as Chibamba Kanyama and all ZRA commissioners.

34 COMMENTS

  1. The late Great MCS when he was forming PF in 2001 made his first slogan as “LESS TAXES AND MORE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET”

    Today these Tax people want to get milk from a stone! There is no money baba in the economy, a low inflation rate as much as it is a good thing is also an indication that there is little cash flow in the economy so let’s be serious with life – things are hard! A low maize price has caused wide spread poverty in rural areas leading to less cash flow in the urban areas!

    2021 we will see what happens when the govt asks struggling traders who they are taxing and using that money to buy useless SUVs to vote for them, otherwise this is a great betrayal to the Late Great MCS vision!

    • Zambian marketeers have their own tuma paradise called ichilimba, they form groups to raise investment capital (tax free bane) now zra is going for their throats. Paradise is everywhere bane, ma levels twapusana.

    • The late ‘Great’ MCS is the one that started this mess which has been worsened by your utterly dull Lungu. No one in PF has ever been great. All below mediocre.

  2. This PF govt is going to milk us dry. There is pay-as-you-earn but now they say I should be taxed for not being able to own a house. Then the small car I put on the road to try and earn something to start making bricks, they are after it also. Now we’ll share with ZRA in addition to what the driver takes (they all steal).
    In developed countries people don’t mind paying taxes because they see clearly what use their taxes are put to. Here we see a few people getting more glamorous SUVs and the rest of us our 1 million dollars only gets us one fire tender.

    • Excellent @Naomi
      ”…….. In developed countries people don’t mind paying taxes because they see clearly what use their taxes are put to.”
      Absolutely!

    • This is very good news. Excellent stuff ZRA Include conductors, parking attendants, naba eagle eagle and bag boys at intercity so that when we complain about tax payers public funds being mismanaged abused they will understand why we are “bitter”.

    • @ Naomi, I understand the point and arguably every hard working family will feel at this point. I just want to say it’s not how much is collected but how it is applied.. I believe if we are able to associate with what is being done then that would have a lesser impact but to hear of huge sums being stated by the auditor general’s office leaves much to be desired! End..

  3. Leave the poor marketers and taxi drivers alone. Go and pinda nkongole from the Daily mail and Times of Zambia who owe you millions in unpaid taxes

    • Aaah! Now you talking. You these conduits of propaganda don’t pay tax as well?

  4. This would definately increase the tax base.A very welcome move but the bigger question remains on whether there be in place a better accountability mechanism.In the light of the auditor general`s revelations,now is the time to review policies and set consequencies for culprits of tax mismanagement.

  5. Again, the IMF has directed the pf regime to increase internal taxes . What happened to the positive, cobstructive on going interaction and dialogue that finance minister was having to get funding before end if december.
    Next round of funding by IMF is April 2018. Then after that is October 2018.
    Looks like tough times ahead. Lucky our taxes cover the jet fuel on eagle 1.
    Why do reporters and editors have to tell the pipo. Its the pf regime thru the ZRAthat must enlighten us on how they will lighten our pockets. All, prices will rice, prices rise tax paid rises,, tax paid rises then prices rise. Where does it end and why are we bankrupt as a nation.

    • Please collect the money ministers got during election time, auditor’s report stolen funds for years now,please marketeers and tax owners are just struggling to make ends meet

  6. PAYING TAXES TO A GOVERNMENT WITH MISPLACED PRIORITIES IS A WASTE OF HARD EARNED MONEY!WHY SHOULD THE CITIZENS BEAR THE BURDEN OF GOVERNMENT’S FAILURE TO ESTABLISH REAL INCOME GENERATING CHANNELS OR INDUSTRIES? YOU BRING IN CORPORATES THAT DETERMINE THEIR OWN TAX OBLIGATIONS AND YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO BRAG ABOUT THE % INCREASE IN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT? THE COST AT WHICH FDI HAS INCREASED BY FAR EXCEEDS THE ACCOMPANYING BENEFITS.

  7. The problem is that we have a president who is very passive with no real direction coming from him. A president who claims ignorance at the happenings from his ministries,i m not even sure if he can be called commander in chief because his not commanding anything! Let the government be accountable first with what they are collecting and show prudence in the way they are spending what they are already collecting. Surely is it normal to be asking for a bailout while you spend on unnecessary so called custom made machines like fire tenders and ambulances?? Even the people you are asking from will be very f.oolish to give you. Toll fees have come in now but when constructing or rehabilitating the same road which is producing revenue, you contract a loan, where is the money???

  8. Everyone must give tp Caeser what belongs to Ceaser. Even our Lord Jesus Christ taught us this when he was on earth. The only thing we should demand is BETTER SERVICES.

  9. What’s the point in collecting all this Tax and it ends up in pockets of a few greedy people as outlined in the Auditor General Report. You can collect all you want but it’ll all be stolen at the end of the day.

  10. Marketeers already pay some form of tax in daily market levy. This is presumably what pays for market services such as cleaning, toilets, security etc. This extra tax is only central government wanting to have a cut. It would be easier and cheaper for Central government to coordinate with local government on market administration and see how they can get their cut from market levy otherwise they are courting trouble here as the marketeers will see nothing in return for any tax that would be paid to ZRA and that’s where the trouble will start from.

  11. Not marjeteers pliz. Marketers are already over burdened by cadars who collect k200 every month plus the city council who collect k5 everyday, if you want them to pay tax, first of all, sort out the cadars who are breathing heavily financially on them, same with buses and taxis.

  12. FDD, ati commander in…what? In chief or thief? Please people spare my ribs..I can stop laughing at the way and rate we are going as a country. Anyway, Every person must pay tax according to the income they ear. Even Yesu paid tax, whether he saw it fair or not, he gave what belonged to ceasar to ceasar. As a principle everyone must pay tax. Trouble is what the people tasked with administering the revenue do with it. Our informal economy is twice as big as our formal economy, so there is room to improve our tax base. But first things first: plug the holes in the system before collecting more. Otherwise even the tax project to be collected will disappear. Let’s suggest solutions to curb the leaks!

  13. The problem is that the PF government is most likely collecting these extra taxes to pay off the IMF and eurobond debt, not deliver more services. This nonsense should end. The debt has to be cancelled, and all money due has to be collected by the ZCCM-IH. There has to be transparancy of government finance.

  14. Zambia Revenue Authority has run out of ideas by coming up with foolish solutions to a complex problem. Most of these people you intend to collect tax from live in shanty towns, therefore impose to collect tax. Your government has failed to grow the economy and therefore create new companies and new jobs. This is how to grow the tax base not targeting poor marketers ,taxis and bus owners, to bail out PF- thieves who have bankrupted the country.

  15. Z-R-A has run out of ideas by coming up with foolish solutions to a complex problem. Most of these people you intend to collect tax from , live in shanty towns, therefore impose to collect tax. Your government has failed to grow the economy and therefore create new companies and new jobs. This is how to grow the tax base not targeting poor marketers ,taxis and bus owners, to bail out PF- thieves who have bankrupted the country.

  16. Z-R-A has run out of ideas by coming up with f-oo-lis-h solutions to a complex problem. Most of these people you intend to collect tax from , live in shanty towns, therefore impose to collect tax. Your government has failed to grow the economy and therefore create new companies and new jobs. This is how to grow the tax base not targeting poor marketers ,taxis and bus owners, to bail out PF- thie-ve-s who have bank-rupte-d the country.

  17. As much as we appreciate the good work ZRA is performing, we need also to appreciate the fact that taxi owners pay a chain of taxes eg. road tax, fitness, insurance, custom etc. Marketeers pay to councils, market associations, cadres. They have not even recovered from loss of burnt goods and now the big ARM of ZRA in the name of increasing the tax base. it does’nt matter how much you collect but how is it applied? is the question. Look at auditors general’s report each time it is released, misappropriation of funds in millions of kwacha, we see confused PAC frustrating technocrats over misapplication of funds, and then you ask very very poor people to pay tax even from the little they are trying to survive on. This is what i may call washing dirty linen in public. ZRA, i thought there…

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