Former Zambia Manufacturers Association Executive Director Maybin Nsupila has warned that Zambia would be in contravention of World Trade Organisation principles if it goes ahead to pass the Goods and Sales Tax Bill.
Mr Nsupila noted that the Goods and Sales Tax Bill goes against the National Treatment Principle of the World Trade Organisation.
He warned that Zambia’s trading partners will drag Zambia to the WTO if the country passes the Bill into Law.
“So we decide as a country to draft legislation which goes against our commitments at the World Organisation under the National Treatment Principle which says “Once a product has paid customs duties and enters your territory, it should be given the same treatment as the locally produced good”.
Mr Nsupila said the 16% and 9% Sales Tax rates go against this provision.
“Should the Bill become Law in this form, all our trading partners will take us on at the WTO on this one. We cannot escape,” he warned.
He further warned that the Bill if implemented into Law will seriously adversely affect the competitiveness of the local manufacturing industry.
Mr Nsupila said this is so because the vast majority of the inputs are imported.
“16% tax on inputs will kill the local industry. Although there is provision for goods to be exempted, there will be complications in administration as some goods can be both inputs and final. So producers will spend more time fighting with Ministry of Finance to have their inputs, intermediate goods, added to the list of exempted products,” he said.
“When you factor in 70% increase in the cost of electricity, more than 50% increase in user fees by agencies supporting industry, and other things, I fear for our economy and our diversification agenda. In the end, it’s viva trading and smuggling and hello to loss of manufacturing jobs and manufacturing capabilities,” he predicted.
Nsumpila is jealous. Ignore him
DJ7 is uninformed and spiteful. Ignore him.
We have almost all raw materials needed for producing almost anything we need. The only reason we keep importing raw materials is because VAT seems more attractive.
So, to the contrary … we have killed our own manufacturing base by focusing on importing raw materials for products.
Secondly, if the bill has defects, fix them and move forward … this is time to just bury heads in the sand. It’s time fix problems and get this once manufacturing hub back to what it was.
When I was growing up, everything was made in Zambia!!! How did we do it back then with sales tax in place??
Let’s roll …
*meant to say this isn’t time to bury heads in the sand*
These guys are just scared rats. We make our own laws thats why we’re a sovereign state. Anyone who feels marginalized should either conform to our rules or fakoff.
A bag of mealie-meal will be taxed over 70% in sales tax by the time it’s bought by the consumer:
Agent will pay 9% PF-Sales Tax when he buys from the farmer
FRA will pay 9% PF-Sales Tax when it buys from Agent
Miller will pay 9% PF-Sales Tax when buying from FRA
Wholesaler will pay 9% PF-Sales Tax
Retailer will pay 9% PF-Sales Tax
Consumer will also pay 9% PF-Sales Tax
TOTAL TAX = 67% (at zero mark-up/profit at all stages)
PF is a bunch of incompetent thieving F00Ls
Hey Dull head, being a signatory to a set of rules means you cannot plead sovereignty. Brainless arguments from ba PF always.
But do you understand the WTO rules?
Nsupila, did you submit your comments during consultations?
Which consultations, by who?
IN the global village, trade partners reciprocate measures you put in place which affect the cost of goods coming from their countries. I dont know what this means with SADC produced goods, will they also attract sales tax, this then will be duty with a different name. Our sugar, cement, mealie meal exports will attract similar taxes in the countries of destination
Listen to this dunderhead calling himself Upnd Cadre,when did PF call for consultations?They first passed the bill into law,failed to meet the 1st April date for the law to be put into place,then asked for consultations,till date there is no date or programme for the said consultations and what i expect to see is PF failing to meet it’s next due date.These fools will sink us this incompetence is unprecedented.
And you can imagine the so called Mayela Slay Queen trying to impress Ms Legarde with her stupid and childish accent
Or are you a trib.al?
What has tribe go to do with government revenue collection?
Lats week i said this new sales tax scheme was backward and outdated.Surely the WTO and retaliatory tariffs by other nations will come back to bite Zambia.
YOU MEAN TO SAY ALL THE TECHNOCRATS AT FINANCE AND COMMERCE MINISTRIES ARE IGNORANT OF THE WTO RULES?
WHY ARE THESE CONCERNS NOT BEING BROUGHT UP IN PARLIAMENT?
It’s ‘Zambia First’
PFoools wont know anything about WTO…. too dull, they think they can just do anything they want. I see some useless PFoools saying if the rest of the world wont fall in line they should piss off… Thats when you can see how dull these people are. Talk about running a katemba
Where is the discrimination in terms of national treatment after imports enter the country. I thought they would all be subjected to the same sales tax? why should there be complications in administration ? If they are there, its time to design systems that should overcome such. The principle should however be upheld as we have decided as a sovereign state – we are going the sales tax way. It was very painful to see Government paying refunds to those mines which claimed to be loss making. The only thing to add on is to come up with some initiative to replace the “subsidy”that vat provided to our local industry through refunds.
The USA is pulling out of the WTO because it doesn’t want to be subjected to a system that favors even nonperforming nations.
Dont compare the economy of the US and Zambia. We are the same people who want to promote nontraditional exports and without other trading partners, we are doomed. These guys can be rough even with our copper exports.
You only compare USA when it suits you like building a fly over bridge in 3hours as compared to Zambia doing it in 9 months.
Imwe guys we are aware of the provision of the WTO rules and not scanty knowledge that suntwe has
Africa suffers due to its people not working together. A lot work for the interest of foreign entities that do not even care about the continent.
TAXATION AND ITS SILENT EVILS – THE POOR SHALL BECOME POORER AND THE RICH RICHER
WHICH EVER WAY YOU LOOK AT TAXATION, IT DEPRIVES MORE FROM THE POOR AND LESS FROM
THE RICH, LET US LOOK AT IT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TWO EMPLOYEES, ONE WITH A HIGHER SALARY
AND ONE WITH A LOWER SALARY
AND IN THIS CASE LET US PUT THE TAX AT 9% THE ZAMBIAN PROPOSED WAY
1) LUNGU RECEIVES A SALARY OF K1,000.00 NET PER MONTH AND HAS TO BUY BASIC ITEMS
COSTING LETS SAY K700.00
HIS TAX ON THESE BASIC ITEMS WILL BE 700 X 9% = 63
SO K63.00 WHICH IS TAX AS A PERCENTAGE OF HIS SALARY
6300 “/ 1000 = 6.30% OF POOR LUNGUS SALARY
2) NOW MULIOKELA NETS k15,000.00 PER…
2) NOW MULIOKELA NETS k15,000.00 PER MONTH AND HAS TO BUY THE SAME BASIC NEEDS AS LUNGU
COSTING K700.00
WHILE HIS TAX WILL STILL BE K63.00, WHAT IS THAT AS A PERCENTAGE OF HIS SALARY
SO MULIOKELA WILL PAY 6300 “/ 15,000 = 0.42% OF HIS SALARY
SO IN THIS EXAMPLE YOUCAN SEE THE NFAIRENESS OF THIS METHOD OF TAXATION BECAUSE WHILE LUNGU IS
PAYING FOR THE SAME COMMODITIES 6.3% OF HIS SALARY, MULIOKELA IS ONLY PAYING 0.042% OF HIS SALARY
HENCE BEING POOR LUNGU IS OVERTAXED
THAT IS WHY IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES THEY COME UP WITH INCENTIVES TO CAUSHION THE POOR