Thursday, March 28, 2024

Mwanakatwe sets the commencement for the sales tax to 1st July 2019

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Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe
Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe

Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe has announced that the proposed date of commencement for the sales tax is 1st July 2019 and not 1st April 2019 as earlier announced.

Mrs. Mwanakatwe says it was envisaged that the process of preparing for the abolishment of the Value Added Tax to pave way for the implementation of the sales tax would be completed in the first quarter of 2019.

She says as part of the process and the delicate nature of the assignment, it has been imperative that all suggestions and concerns raised by stakeholders are taken into consideration and this has taken more time than originally planned.

Mrs. Mwanakatwe told Parliament in a Ministerial statement that significant progress has been made and the draft for the new sales tax has been concluded and will be presented in the house for first reading on 2nd April 2019.

She said it is intended that the 2nd reading and the finalisation of the Bill by the house will be done during the June 2019 session.

Mrs. Mwanakatwe said during the intervening period, the Bill will undergo further consultations though the parliamentary committee and interaction by the Ministry of Finance with various other economic players.

She emphasised that this being a new law, government does not want to leave any stone un turned and remains committed to implementing a simplified non refundable tax regime that will a provide a win win situation for both government and the businesses.

Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Patrick Matibini directed Mrs. Mwanakatwe to issues a Ministerial statement to update the house and the nation as a whole on the status quo of the sales tax.

Dr. Matibini was rendering a ruling on a point of Order raised by Chembe Member of Parliament Sebastian Kopulande who wanted to know when the Bill that introduces Sales Tax will be presented to parliament.

29 COMMENTS

  1. heheheh, these guys are brain dead, omg we are in so much in trouble. And how there winning these election only God knows.

    • Finance Minister should be the most powerful respected minister in the land, but PF has none.
      The most domicile cabinet ever assembled.

    • Sales Tax is a 1st April F00Ls joke.

      It’ll cripple the already ailing economy. Problem with PF is that they make decisions after drinking whisky. That’s why the economy is in shambles now.
      They don’t even bother to consult private sector or mining sector.

    • B R Mumba, Sr you are a liability and not an asset, we told you about Zambia airways but you kept saying lets Roll, do you mean raw or Roll. You are one of the most foolish educated people on this blog.

    • Hehehe, B R Mumba, Sr, It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

    • Kabwe Council workers have dumped rubbish right in front of their offices knowing too well the lazy man is in town…good job you can not be accepting Lazy Lungu’s mediocrity or sleeping like those Chipata council workers last weekend..Good job make use of social media in fact go and dumb more rubbish on the jogging trail this bum will use tomorrow morning.

    • sosoliso – UK MPs go to their constituents and ask for direction on policy issues …they are not like Zambian MPs who once were kneeling in front of them escape to Parliament Sex Motel after they are voted in and only listen to State House.

    • The 2019 budget was crafted based on the projection of taxation in relation to Sales Tax. What is the gap which will be created in the govt capacity to raise revenue for keeping the public services and good provision. Do we still have technocrats advising our Finance Minister..

    • @1.wise
      PF is winning elections because UPND is more clueless than PF…..UPND has characteristics of a tribal grouping and this is what Jay Jay and Spaka the Tonga minions don’t want to to acknowledge…..UPND is not a genuine opposition…..so no opposition in Zambia and 2021 PF is winning elections again no doubt

  2. Even this one is NOT realistic!!It appears Manakatwe and hee team have no sense of timing!! 1st July is barely 3 months time,in which: the bill must be debated(possibly amended),passed and then signed into law,then ZRA has to prepare complementary regulations,educate its staff,then train businesses and change computer systems before applying the new changes!! That is a tall order given the low levels of professionalism currently obtaining in ZRA which is now flooded with PF politician’s friends,relatives and party cadres!!

  3. PF have accumulated so much debt and the economy has under performed on their watch so they are forced to raise a new sales tax.That’s the unpleasant truth .

  4. B R Mumba, Sr
    It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

  5. B R Mumba, Sr
    It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

  6. Hope Madame you have learnt a lesson from this mess. If there is any cardinal jmeasure you intend to present for budget 2020, present it for public debate long before presenting in October. This time you may be excused as having been brought midstream 2019 budget. A repeat of this mess next time around, you will surely be taken for a joker.

  7. There has been little information on transition from Vat to Sales tax. In the absence of little information, ignorance is inevitable. Government’s reasoning of moving away from Vat system was because of greater refunds it was incurring in administration of Vat. So it expect sales system of tax to completely remove refunds. Much as the sales system is viable, but it is devoid of information on which the nation can make informed decision. I remember when Vat was being introduced in 1996, information was readily available before Vat was in full force. It will be naivety of the worst kind to start something with little knowledge worth assimilating.ZRA should be in a forefront in dissemination of such information.

  8. @7 Mbaluso,You are spot on!! It took almost two years of preparations before VAT entered into force.We have operated under VAT for almost 24 years,lost all technical capacity we had in Salas Tax from both Public and Private sectors and then some one just wakes up and thinks we scrap VAT and put Sales Tax,just like that,thinking things happen the same way they get appointed by Edgar Lungu with out analysing their past records in leadership and stewardship for state resources!! Here is clear example of failed leadership at both high and medium level of decision making!!

  9. Put off just like Zambia Airways. These two planes will never take off.

    VAT promotes investment because it is allowable on business expenditure, this is a solid fact you see in the UK for example. This was the main reason it was introduced in the first place under the Structural Adjustment Programme.

  10. Recently Christine Largade of IMF on March 25, 2019 at one Institute hinted to say and i quote as
    she delivered “Restoring Faith in the System “Our issue today is international corporate taxation. Albert Einstein once said that “the hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”It may be difficult, but it is possible to create a corporate tax system that better reflects the changes in the global economy.I believe we need new rules in this area. Why?The public perception that large multinational companies pay little tax has led to political demands for urgent action.It is not difficult to see why.A New Approach.Let me highlight three reasons why a new approach is urgent.First, the ease with which multinationals seem able to avoid tax, and the…

  11. three-decade long decline in corporate tax rates, undermines faith in the fairness of the overall tax system.Second, the current situation is especially harmful to low-income countries, depriving them of much- needed revenue to help them achieve higher economic growth, reduce poverty, and meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.Advanced economies have long shaped international corporate tax rules, without considering how they would affect low-income countries.” end of quote

  12. We can craft tax systems that will help us work the economy better like the ministers proposal here

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