Maravi

Rupiah commends ZRA’s increased revenue collection

Rupiah commends ZRA’s increased revenue collection
By Fridah Zinyama
Fri 02 Apr. 2010, 04:01 CAT

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has said Zambia’s tax revenue collection measured as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has moved from 13 per cent at the inception of Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to an average of 18 per cent.

And ZRA and Access Bank have signed an e-payment solutions agreement which will allow tax payers to pay their taxes with the bank.

During the ZRA second Taxpayers Appreciation Day at Mulungushi International Conference Centre yesterday under the theme ‘Recognising and Encouraging Voluntary Compliance in Revenue Collection’, President Banda, who was represented by commerce minister Felix Mutati said the current Authority’s revenue collection contributed 70 per cent to the national budget.

“It is thus evident that ZRA has managed to increase revenue collection and has performed above the set targets in most of the years of its existence,” he said. “The critical role ZRA plays in the provision of the resources for the budget and thereby in national building cannot be overemphasised.”

President Banda said the government recognises and appreciates the various initiatives that had been implemented through reforms and modernisation efforts at ZRA.

“I can confirm that my government works closely with ZRA on matters of tax law reforms and on the simplification of tax laws to enable officials apply tax laws in a fair, equitable and transparent manner,” he said.

President Banda noted that ZRA had continued on the path to integrating its operations and segmenting taxpayers according to size.

“Proof of this is in the establishment of the Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) last year and also in the Medium and Small taxpayers offices launched today,” he said, adding that it was a pleasing development as government had been looking forward to the successful establishment of the Medium Taxpayers Offices (MTO) and Small Taxpayers Office (STO).

President Banda said there was no doubt that ZRA needed to focus attention on the taxation of the informal sector.

“We are alive to the fact that taxing the informal sector is a challenge that calls for concerted efforts; but are confident that ZRA will rise to the occasion,” President Banda said. “ZRA must focus on this category of taxpayers as it also has the potential to contribute significantly to the national treasury and possibly mitigate the burden of the formal sector.”

President Banda said apart from enhanced taxpayer education services, ZRA should build capacity to administer the integration of tax operations at the district and regional levels for small and medium taxpayers.

And ZRA Commissioner General Chriticles Mwansa said in an effort to improve their service delivery, the authority would introduce a new product in partnership with Access Bank.

“We have discussed with all the banks and floated this idea to them to participate and Access Bank has already met the requirements,” he said. “Other banks will join on this platform as and when they fulfil the requirements.”

Mwansa explained that through this facility, taxpayers would be able to effect payments of customs duties though banks or through the internet.

“We hope that we shall increase revenues and create a predictable expectation of our contribution to the provision of resource to government,” he said. “It is against this background that we will continue with our efforts to modernise our tax administration systems and procedures, enhance corporate governance, improve professionalism and productivity of our staff as well as make our work environment not only safe but also conducive to production.”

Mwansa added that ZRA had embarked on strategies to reduce the cost of doing business in the country in line with the government policy.

“The authority remains resolved in its determination to improve service delivery and implementation of legal provisions relating to tax administration,” he said.

Mwansa said simplified systems and partnerships with taxpayers and the general public were critical to encouraging taxpayers to dutifully discharge their tax obligations.

“We have in place a modernisation programme aimed at improving our overall service delivery to the taxpayers and implementing policies and procedures to ensure effective tax administration and an overall expansion of the taxpayers base,” said Mwansa.

Labels: ACCESS BANK, PAYMENT SYSTEMS, RUPIAH BANDA, ZRA

posted by MrK @ 4:44 AM