Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
ActionAid Zambia Country Director Nalucha Ziba
ActionAid Zambia has called on government to strongly invest in tax compliance measures if Zambia is to collect sufficient tax revenues.
The organization says it is cardinal for government to put in place measures to efficiently collect revenue from all avenues in the existing system as it plans to create new ones.
ActionAid Zambia Country Director Nalucha Ziba in a 2016 review statement says the 2015 Auditor General’s Report shows a failure to meet revenue targets the highest being Withholding Tax amounting to K1, 450,533,510 of non-collection.
Ms Ziba says this is 70.5% of the total under collection indicating that the authority requires ensuring that the collection to avoid revenue losses of such magnitude as Zambia plans for its recovery economically.
She notes that although in the 2017 budget there are a number of measures put in place to address tax compliance such as the appointing of tax agents, however more should be done.
She says her organization feels that the collaboration between Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and other government agencies needs to be strengthened in order to realise this.
She states that recently, the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA) started implementing a system where all road contractors are required to harmonize their tax position with ZRA before they can receive their payment from the NRFA.
Ms Ziba says this is a good measure that should be adopted by all government agencies as it will ensure tax compliance.
The ActionAid Zambia Country Director has since observed the need for the government to review and renegotiate all outdated tax agreements to ensure that sufficient tax revenue is generated.