Government has disclosed that it will not be possible to start the implementation of the proposed Goods and Services Tax on April 1st as planned.
In her budget address, Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe revealed that Government will abolish Value Added Tax and replace it with the General Sales Tax which she said will be easier to administer.
During a budget review dinner on the evening of the budget presentation, Mrs Mwanakatwe revealed that the new Sales Tax will come into effect on April 1st.
But Justice Minister Given Lubinda said in an interview yesterday that it will be impossible to start implementing the new tax system on April 1st because a number of modalities are yet to be put in place.
Mr Lubinda said the General Sales Tax could not be implemented on 1st April before a law to support it is even tabled in Parliament.
He disclosed that a Legislative Cabinet meeting will soon be convened to discuss the proposed Bill.
Mr Lubinda said at no time did Mrs Mwanakatwe commit herself in the budget speech to start the implementation of the new Tax by April 1st.
“It cannot come into effect before it is passed by Parliament and it you read the Budget Speech, there is nowhere in her speech where she talks about 1st of April, she made that statement of 1st of April at a Post Budget meting at Intercontinental that I hope it can be done by the 1st of April,” Mr Lubinda said.
He added, “Its not sacrosanct that we launch on April 1st. If we manage well and good but i don’t think we will manage by 1st of April.”
How I wish there is predictability in important policy decisions. I understand the complex nature of having such legislature changed but we have to remember most organisations have borne high cost to change their software across there businesses including stationary to prepare for this date. Perhaps the minister should have continued engaging the business community through out instead of now when we have only 3-4 days to go
Mwanakatwe should just resign….no wonder we don’t develop…..please hire people on merit not just the name…’Mwanakatwe’……Africa will always be Africa
This is a chipantepante govt for sure. They do not think things through. That is the the dividend of having drunks for both Finance Minister and the President, and a diploma in agric from NRDC does not qualify Given for Justice minister. In short we have a government made simple, a congregation of of Chakolwas from Chawama!
That’s what happens when you make decisions after drinking bottles of Whisky. You don’t consider reality.
Next is mineral royalties.
This is Chipante-pante Govt at its best.
Margaret is doing a heck of a job … it takes time to overhaul a system. And you want to test and test and test and test again to make sure once you are up and running you don’t have glitches to bring the system down.
It took Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) almost 2 years to implement, even that still did not run well until it was in the 4th year. People with no experience are the worst bloggers here.
Sorry saana …
BR Mumbai Sr I think you can include Maggie in that category of people with no experience because she announced to us the changes to be made but failed to take into account the intricate details of what would be involved. Perhaps it was best to draw lessons from what MMD did when they reverted us from sales tax to VAT in the mid 90s
Flipflop politics. Such will not take the country foward. The nation needs predictable and stable tax regime. So if this tax system was not meant to be implemented this fiscal period then why the heck was it presented as a 2019 budget measure? By the way, honorable Lubinda keep your lane. Let Maggie run her finance portfolio. Avoid making her look like she lied to the Nation. If she is challenged in anyway, let her come back to the Nation and explain her challenges. Your approach may be contrary to collective responsibility and potentially illegal. What a mess Ba PF !
This is typical working backwards mentality…How do you make decisions minus working out modalities first ?
Mrs Mwanakatwe being the finance minister has lamentably failed on this one. Good night
Mrs Mwanakatwe must resign now..!
Is that all you can think of? Running government is not child’s play. When you are in opposition it’s easy to spot “mistakes” since you don’t have all the information.
What do you expect with such mappets in government? This is a serious matter that should be handled with care. Mwanakatwe is a drunk such that she has forgotten what she said about 1st April. Systems will have to be put in places by all tax payers and these goons thinks it can take a day or a month? There is lack of seriousness on the part of technocrats to fervently advise this drunk on how to go about the whole thing.
April 1 is fools day kikikiki
April 1 is fools day may be you have forgotten
We all saw this coming, changing tax systems require a lot of investment in change management;stakeholder engagement,technical training ,legal reforms etc.But this government and its party cadres in public institutions think it can be done overnight!!There you are,the realities have shamed you!!
So it is good for you to say if the courts don’t allow me to stand in 2021 there will be chaos in the country but for archbishop Mpundu, just to advise that if we don’t dialogue we are creating a recipe for violence, you call him stupid. And your religious affairs waste of resources ministry is not even admonishing you.
But even the Chief Government spokesperson mentioned the 1st April date at her latest Sunday interview. SO we cant deny that this date has been mentioned Bo Lubinda.
Anyway all is rotten it sounds and looks like.
As I always say, they are dander heads who don`t have a fcuken clue of what they are doing, with this lot we are doomed and if you think the Titanic was bad watch this space with these dull morons
Don’t dither because prophets of doom have told you there will be disaster. In the circumstances sales tax is the right way to go. The Chamber of Mines says its members have so far contributed $1BN to the Treasury but they are quiet about the $750M they’re claiming back in VAT refunds. Isn’t this injustice? Margaret wake up and tell the nation your problems, we will help you solve them. Don’t just sit and guzzle Jemasoni as if it will solve our problems
If you don’t talk people will end up listening to Hichilema and Kambwili, the 2 howling chimbwis
The topic here is whether or not the sales tax will be implemented on 1st April 2019,and not Kambwili and HH. Stick to the topic and pump sense in some of us.
CHIPANTEPANTE POLICIES.
LET US WAIT AND SEE.
Yabaa – Ba chibwi – No plan . Just only talk!
Bo Lubinda, I thought our Zambian budget begins every 1st April. Whether or not the date is mentioned, we know it’s 1st April. Have things changed and am not aware? Please she’d more light, am lost.
the budget begins on 1st January of each year it changed way back
mwaitaya baba it is 1st January!
The budget was presented along time ago. Now who was sleeping between Mwanakatwe and Lubinda? Lungu, take action, man