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(STICKY) Milupi calls for rational analysis of mine taxes

Milupi calls for rational analysis of mine taxes
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Wed 10 Nov. 2010, 04:01 CAT

FINANCE minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane should be rational in debating the restoration of the popular windfall tax, Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) Charles Milupi has observed.

And Milupi has challenged Dr Musokotwane and President Rupiah Banda to apologise to the Zambian people for having misled late president Levy Mwanawasa on the imposition of the windfall tax.

Dr Musokotwane on Friday night said people pressuring the government to raise taxation from the mining sector to enable the country benefit from the current copper boom were preaching economics of the 1960s.

During a public discussion organised by the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) and Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of The Post at Golden Bridge Hotel, ordinary citizens took Dr Musokotwane to task on why the government was under-taxing foreign investors in the mining sector.

Dr Musokotwane was visibly irked by the repeated calls for him to raise revenue collections from the vast mining sector.

Commenting on the development, Milupi advised Dr Musokotwane to be level-headed in debating the mine tax.

“Our people want to increase the revenues. What has that got to do with the 1960s? It is the question of who is in charge of the revenue base? By the way, in the 1960s, this country had a higher GDP per capita. He should not be deriding the 60s,” Milupi said.

“He should understand ‘how were they able to raise the revenues.’ This country used to be a medium income country but now we are a Least Developed Country (LDC) and we are saying we have resources and the good Lord has provided us with extremely high copper prices and the people of Zambia are not benefiting from these high copper prices. People of Zambia should benefit from this without crippling the copper industry. It must also be made to survive.”

Milupi said the cancellation of the 2008 mining fiscal regime lacked rationale.

“The windfall tax was not the figure from ,the air, they looked at the production costs of the mines and then factored in high cost producers at US$2 per pound and the windfall tax only kicked in US$2.5 per tonne, about US$5,500 per tonne,” said Milupi.

“Let us be rational in the manner we analyse these figures. There is no rationality to the repeal of the law especially that it was brought in by this same government in which President Rupiah Banda was vice-president and leader of government business in the house, Mr George Kunda was the Minister of Justice Dr Kalombo Mwansa was the mines minister, Maxwell Mwale was deputy Minister of Mines. They have not given us a good reason for appealing that law and they should apologise to the Zambian people for having brought that law in 2008.”

Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE, WINDFALL TAX

posted by MrK @ 7:06 AM