Zimra moves on tax evaders

By The NewsDay | Sep. 16, 2015 | 2 Min read

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) is working on a real-time invoice management system, as it moves to net tax evaders. A Chinese IT firm, Inspur, is set to complete the pilot project on invoice management that will see more transparency in revenue collection.

BY VICTORIA MTOMBA

The move is set to increase the tax base as it will target all companies, Zimra board chairperson Willia Bonyongwe told NewsDay yesterday.

“The Chinese company is providing a more comprehensive invoice management system which will, for a while, run parallel to the fiscal machines, which the big companies are already on. There will be integration at some point in the future. The project will be completed in October 2015,” she said.

The pilot project began early this year.

Bonyongwe said the invoice management system will net tax evaders, reduce corruption as it is real time and aid planners because it projects revenue accurately.

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Revenue collection has been facing challenges that include corruption.

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Bonyongwe said the recent job terminations would have an effect on revenue.

“All things remaining equal, if people are laid off there will be less Pay As You Earn, but it also depends on what the Pay As You Earn was. The state of the economy is worrying because taxes are derived from the level of economic activity in the economy,” she said.

Over 30 000 people were laid off after the July 17 Supreme Court ruling that allowed employers to terminate workers’ contracts on three months’ notice.

Bonyongwe said Zimra had put in place payment plans to recover $1 billion it was owed, adding that the numbers of those with tax arrears was declining. She, however, could not give the exact figures. Companies have been struggling to remit tax to Zimra forcing the authority to descend with garnishing orders.

Tax collection remains one of the economy’s main sources of revenue generation.