Govt urged to revise all tax treaties

ZCSD Executive Director Lewis Mwape

The Zambia Tax Platform, a consortium of organizations working to promote tax justice has called on government to start revising all tax treaties in order to collect more tax revenue from investments in the country.

ZTP Chairperson Lewis Mwape says with the recent revelations by Action Aid that under one treaty alone US$7.4 million was not collected by government through tax avoidance mechanisms of one firm, this shows how much government can collect if these treaties are revised.

He has noted that there are numerous tax incentives that are offered to investors which may be unnecessarily eroding the tax base, adding that investors are still willing to invest in the country regardless of these incentives.

Mr. Mwape states that while the platform has welcomed government’s plan to expand the tax base, there is need to ensure local revenues are raised in a progressive manner.

He has observed that incomes are highly eroded due to the many taxes, levies and fees that the government is collecting.

Mr. Mwape points out that the many taxes and levies that citizens have to pay are leaving citizens with very little disposable income which is negatively impacting savings and investments in the country.

He says there is need to balance the need to protect the most vulnerable in society with the need to increase domestic revenue mobilization.