THE tourism sector is pushing for the amendment of the statutory instrument which governs the importation of tourism-related goods that are exempted from customs duty and value-added tax (VAT), a government official has said.
BY TARISAI MANDIZHA BUSINESS REPORTER
Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Walter Mzembi told a recent Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) consultation meeting in Harare that the sector was set to submit a paper to government for the amendment of the Statutory Instrument 172 and 173 of 2013.
He also proposed that government issues out a list of goods that are on rebate.
“Already, I have told Cabinet that I am bringing a paper in the next fortnight. The paper shall be drafted under the theme Towards A $5 billion Dollar Economy By 2018: Enhanced Revenue Generation Incentives and Plugging Leakages,” Mzembi said.
He added: “We are looking for a collective assessment of two policy measures, Statutory Instrument 172 and 173. We want the list to be clear and concise regarding what is allowed and what is not allowed in Statutory Instrument 172 and the interpretation of the goods covered by the statutory instrument.”
Mzembi said Statutory Instrument 173 only covered safari operators, but there was need for government to go back to the old dispensation which allowed all tourism players to import vehicles on rebate.
He said the paper would go through the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure and Utilities chaired by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa.
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A player in the tourism sector confirmed that Statutory Instrument 172 was not clear on the list of goods allowed into the country on rebate for the tourism players while Statutory Instrument 173 only benefited safari operators.
“We feel Statutory Instrument 173 is not fully operational for our industry because it only allows safari operators to import vehicles on rebate,” he said.
In 2009, government cancelled the statutory instrument which allowed all players in the sector to import vehicles on rebate following the alleged abuse of the instrument by players.
In response to the call, Chinamasa, who attended the meeting, said government was going to publish goods covered in Statutory Instrument 172.
