Mining firms in Luapula are evading tax, reveals CSPR

COMMENT - Actually I want especially the LARGE MINES to start paying taxes instead of sending all their profits abroad. I think it is just a little too easy for this government to stat picking on small scale miners, becuase the big miners are 'protected' and have 'friends' in high places.

Mining firms in Luapula are evading tax, reveals CSPR
By Chibaula Silwamba
Mon 21 June 2010, 04:00 CAT

THE Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has revealed that some mining companies in Luapula Province evade paying mineral tax.

CSPR Luapula Province programme management team chairperson Yvonne Besa revealed that mining companies, especially those in the small-scale category, were not complying with the law because they had not been paying mineral royalties and other taxes for some time.

‘‘How can the poverty levels of the people be alleviated if the people extracting the country’s resources cannot comply and pay the tax that is supposed to be used to better the lives of the people? We want these especially small-scale miners to pay these taxes and urge government to channel the resources to uplift the lives of the poor people in society through provision of health, educational facilities and improved infra-structure,” stated Besa in a press release issued after research on mining activities in Luapula Province.

“As a network that advocates for the marginalized in society, we are saddened by government’s failure to curb this evading of tax by these mining companies.”

She stated that the government was losing out on revenue from its minerals because of failure to collect taxes from some mining companies.

“Although it is said Zambia’s economy was diversifying, mining is still a major tax contributor in the country. Therefore, it needs to be harnessed in order for government to obtain the much needed revenue for national development. CSPR in Luapula Province is appealing to government through the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development to decentralise its operations in the province so that it can restrain the illegal mining which is said to be on the increase in the province because government would continue to lose income in form of taxes and royalty payments because of non- compliance of the legal and illegal miners operating in the province,” stated Besa.

“We urge government to coordinate the process by first ensuring that the fragmented small scale firms are captured through normal registration. We further challenge the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development to smoothen and re-organise the mines licence issuance process to curb illegal mining in the province.”