Govt to pay outstanding VAT refunds before Sales Tax comes into force

Government says it will pay all outstanding Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds to mining companies before the Sales Tax comes into force on 1^st April, 2019.

Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe says all firms that owe and will owe government will also have to pay their tax dues during the transition period of the Sales Tax.

Speaking during the Ernst & Young post budget breakfast in Lusaka, Mrs. Mwanakatwe says she has since directed the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to do an audit on VAT refund claims.

Mrs. Mwanakatwe has also disclosed that the rebasing of Zambia’s Growth Domestic Product (GDP) as prescribed in the 2019 national budget will commence early next year.

She says in rebasing the GDP, government will consider all sectors of the Country’s economy.

And Mrs. Mwanakatwe says all she needs from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in view of the measures introduced in the 2019 national budget is a positive statement.

The minister, who is next week expected to meet the IMF, believes that the Zambian government is on good footing, stating that all it needs is to continue doing the right thing to qualify for a financial bailout.

She states that the 2019 national budget has addressed all government administrative wastages and that government intends to do the same to all state owned enterprises.

Meanwhile ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda says the Authority will engage Chambishi Metals over the volume of cobalt and copper concentrates it has been importing.

Mr. Chanda says the ZRA wants to understand what the numbers really mean for the mining firm before it can address the issue with the Ministry of Finance.

He states that the Authority has been wondering why some mining firms that are paying 10 percent tax on exports of copper concentrates are not supplying to local smelters.