Improved performances in individual tax and excise duty spurred the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) to surpass its revenue target for the third quarter.
Net collections for the quarter amounted to $660,7 million against a target of $654,9 million resulting in a positive variance of 3%.
In a trading update Zimra board chairperson Sternford Moyo said the quarter registered a positive performance due to the implementation of various measures aimed at ensuring compliance by stakeholders and improved economic performance.
To date Zimra has collected close to $2 billion against a target of $1,8 billion.
“A total of $148,6 million was collected against a target of $123,7 million. This constituted a positive variance of 20% against a target,” said Moyo.
“The performance of the revenue can be attributed to: improvement in the local capacity utilisation has necessitated the recruitment of more employees, hence the improvement in the performance of the revenue head.”
In his 2011 Budget presentation last November, Finance minister Tendai Biti projected total domestic revenues to top $2,7 billion.
VAT brought in the most revenue, contributing 34% of total collections. A total of $225 million was collected against a set target of $239,2 million. “VAT fell short of the Ministry of Finance target because capacity utilisation for the local industry is gradually picking up hence VAT on local sales did not perform optimally,” he said.
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Corporate tax collections amounted to $67,9 million against a target of $81,1 million.
The decline was attributed the struggling of companies reeling from liquidity challenges and power outages as a result affecting their profitability. Total collections for exercise duties amounted to $81,1 million against a target of $56,6 million largely driven by fuel and beer.
“The performance of the revenue head is attributed to the following: the economy has registered a growth in demand for fuel as industry capacity utilisation is gradually picking up and as the economy recovers, consumers are getting more disposable income to spend on excisable products,” said Moyo.
Other taxes including tobacco levy, indirect taxes, non-tax revenue and carbon tax collections amounted to $52,4 million against a target of $65,1 million.
Moyo attributed the low collections from tobacco levy were due to the subdued tobacco deliveries that amounted to 140 million kilogrammes against a target of 180 million kilogrammes.
Customs duty was off the mark with revenue collections of $85,2 million against a target of $89,2 million.
“Given the momentum gathered so far and the level of dedication and team spirit that is prevailing within the organisation, Zimra is confident that this year’s target will be surpassed,” he said.
