Maravi

Govt considers pumping more money into ZRA

Govt considers pumping more money into ZRA
By Kabanda Chulu
Sat 07 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT

FINANCE minister Situmbeko Musokotwane on Thursday told parliament that government is considering allocating 2.5 per cent of revenue collected to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) in order to enhance its operations.

And Dr Musokotwane raised a motion to present three bills namely, the income tax amendment bill, customs and excise duty amendment bill and value added tax amendment bill, in order to be in line with changes announced in the 2010 budget.

Responding to Bweengwa member of parliament Highvie Hamududu who asked whether government was considering other funding models for ZRA to enable it perform better, Dr Musokotwane said the government was considering the proposals.

“We know the importance of increased funding for revenue collection and this is why this matter is under consideration to see how it will work,” he said.

And responding to a question by Livingstone Central member of parliament Sakwiba Sikota who asked what measures were being put in place to improve infrastructure at border posts, Dr Musokotwane said new structures had been built at Chirundu and Katima Mulilo border posts and that government would soon advertise for bids for the development of structures at other border posts around the country.

And Hamududu asked how much money was released for the operations of the ZRA from 2005 to date and what major constraints ZRA had been facing in carrying out its mandate effectively.

In response, finance deputy minister Chileshe Kapwepwe said in 2005, ZRA was given K127 billion, another K127 billion in 2006; K197 billion in 2007 and K210 billion in 2008 while K168.2 billion has been released so far out of the K205 billion budgeted for in 2009.

“The treasury has been consistent with funding ZRA and the key operational challenges for the institution are lack of infrastructure in new border facilities where cross border trading activities have increased and the need for adequate investment in human capital development to equip staff to competently audit multinational corporations such as the mines,” said Kapwepwe.

Labels: CHILESHE KAPWEPWE, HIGHVIE HAMUDUDU, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE, ZRA

posted by MrK @ 12:16 AM