THE National Social Security Authority (NSSA) is the latest organisation to be hit by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority raids on tax-defaulting companies, NewsDay has learnt.
By Paidamoyo Muzulu Senior Reporter
The authority’s bank accounts were last Friday garnisheed to recover outstanding $10 million in taxes.
The Zimra raid on NSSA accounts came barely a fortnight after the tax authority garnisheed Mbada Diamonds over $22,4 million outstanding taxes in withholding taxes.
“NSSA was served with a garnishee order for $10 million by Zimra for outstanding taxes last week on Friday,” an insider told NewsDay.
NSSA general manager James Matiza could neither confirm nor deny receiving the garnishee order when contacted for comment yesterday.
“I am not at liberty to comment on that over the phone. Put your questions to me in writing and I will also give a response in writing,” Matiza said.
Zimra also recently indicated that it would raid the informal sector to make sure players there paid their share of taxes.
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This came as economists continued to estimate that the informal sector was a $7 billion industry yet it avoided taxation.
The flurry of garnishee orders on defaulting companies confirms the country’s depleted revenues as said by Zimra commissioner-general Gershem Pasi in Parliament recently.
Pasi, in giving evidence before Parliament, said tax revenues were dwindling while at the same time the government continued to bring in nearly 60% of the imports without paying taxes.
Diamond mining companies like Mbada, Marange and DMC; mobile phone companies; Delta Beverages and value-added tax have been the main revenue stream for Zimra since dollarisation in 2009.
For the past five years, the country has had an almost stagnant $4 billion National Budget as the formal economy continued to crumble while government toys around with the idea of formalising small and medium enterprises.
