Mutati urges ZRA to keep

Mutati urges ZRA to keep
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 5:07:53 AM

COMMERCE minister Felix Mutati has urged the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to continue with its efforts of broadening the tax base by increasing the tax volumes.

Mutati’s comments come in the wake of calls by stakeholders that ZRA needed to broaden its tax base as a way of increasing revenue and also giving relief to the few taxpayers in the country who mostly were in the formal sector.

Mutati said there was need to ensure that many people in the revenue activity were captured in the tax system.

He added that a lot of informal businesses in the country were still not taxed.

Mutati also referred to the 2006 efforts by ZRA which saw the country’s revenue body working with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning in trying to introduce presumptive tax at three per cent to capture the informal sector which mostly included traders.

“The purpose of that tax system was to try and capture as many informal businesses as practically possible. ZRA should aim to capture a wide range of people,” said Mutati. “ZRA should continue with its efforts of broadening its tax base by increasing the volume and quality of tax revenue for the government.”

ZRA has indicated the country’s revenue from taxes was likely to decline owing to the continued slowing down of economic activity in the country, especially with the significant drop in international copper prices.