ZRA seizes truckload of konyagi in tax fraud attempt

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The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has seized a truckload of Konyagi alcohol which was deliberately misclassified as building materials with intent to defraud the state of over k730,000.

ZRA Corporate Communications Manager, Topsy Sikalinda says had the alcohol been cleared as hardware it would have only paid k43, 698 instead of k729, 820 in taxes.

Mr. Sikalinda explains that the truck which initially did not want to pass through the scanner was forced to after alert customs officers suspected something wrong with the paperwork.

He says after the containerized truck passed through the scanner at Nakonde border, it was discovered that the declared building materials were in fact alcohol.

Mr. Sikalinda says the truck which was destined For Lusaka has since been detained in Nakonde.

And in a related incidence, the Zambia Revenue Authority at Kapiri Mposhi customs enforcement center has intercepted four trucks loaded with ethanol which is 90% pure alcohol, worth k3 million in taxes which was declared as empty bottles in transit.

Mr. Sikalinda says the authority has noted that ethanol smuggling is slowly on the rise leading to the manufacturing of illicit alcohol popularly known as Tujili-Jili or junta.