Maravi

Govt to increase road tax by 50%

COMMENT - I know a better suggestion - stop bleeding the people of their money and start taxing the mines. Also, if there is a road tax, they should pay most of it, because they are doing most of the damage.

Govt to increase road tax by 50%
By Mutale Kapekele
Sat 20 Nov. 2010, 04:04 CAT

THE road traffic (amendment) bill which seeks to increase road tax by 50 per cent next year has passed second reading in Parliament. Moving the motion on the bill on Thursday, finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane said once the bill became law, the government would increase its domestic revenue for road construction and maintenance.

Dr Musokotwane said the country needed good roads to prosper and it was not enough to rely on donor funds to finance the sector. Currently, light vehicles and heavy-duty trucks are paying K180,000 and K1,499,940 per year respectively. Once the bill passes into law, light vehicles will pay K270,000 while heavy duty trucks will pay K2,249,910.

However, several members of parliament expressed reservations at the increase, which is expected to be implemented on January 1, 2011.

Debating the bill, Lukulu East parliamentarian Batuke Imenda, who chairs the committee on transport, observed that the proposed road tax increase was too high, especially for light vehicle owners as they were not responsible for the wear and tear of the roads.

He said if applied, public service transport fares would increase and burden the already over-charged passengers.

Imenda said his committee interviewed several people on the matter and they recommended that tollgates be introduced to collect tax from heavy trucks as a way of raising revenue for the roads.

Kalomo member of parliament Request Muntanga said it was not fair for the government to allow heavy-duty trucks to pass on Zambian roads for free.

“The heavy-duty trucks from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana are the ones destroying our roads but are paying nothing as they travel to Lumwana mine,” Muntanga said.

“Why don’t we put tollgates on our roads? These trucks are destroying the whole road from Livingstone to Solwezi. We could collect money from these road destroyers by simply applying the law. Why don’t you government want to collect money?”

Muntanga said if Zambians with small vehicles were over-taxed, they would be forced to “go off” the road but would willingly pay if tax were simplified.

And Katuba member of parliament Jonas Shakafuswa suggested that the government should introduce road tax that recognised the weight of the vehicle instead of bundling all in the same category.

Shakafuswa also suggested that the government charge the mines tax for the roads as they were responsible for heavy loads that “destroy the roads.”
He said it was unfair to allow ordinary Zambians to subsidise big players such as the mines.

“Why are we so kind to the mines? In countries where they come from, those involved in the mineral extractive industry pay up to 65 per cent in tax and here they want a tax break,” Shakafuswa said. “When are we going to be rich? As a government, we should not feel pity for those mines.

Maybe our generation has no potential to stand up to guys with money and we should leave it for our children.”

And the property transfer tax bill passed second reading in Parliament.
The bill seeks to increase property transfer tax from the current three per cent to five per cent to cover the period from April 2011 to March 2012.

Labels: JONAS SHAKAFUSWA, REQUEST MUNTANGA, ROADS, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE, TAXATION

posted by MrK @ 5:46 AM