Africa-Press – Zambia. The Zambia Tax Platform Coordinator Ibrahim Kamara has noted that issues of non-tax compliance and tax evasion have remained a problem in the Country.
Mr. Kamara said non-tax compliance and tax evasion has affected the amount of revenues that the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) is able to obtain from economic activities throughout the Country.
Mr. Kamara observed that the government and the Authority had set up a law that mandated all business houses to set up Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFD) as a way of monitoring transactions online and for easy auditing
“In the past government and ZRA had put in place a law on Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFD) that mandated all those businesses registered for Value-added Tax (VAT) to procure and install these devices,” he stated. He observed that the challenge has been lack of installation and usage of the devices making most businesses to continue evading the law.
“In some cases, it is even between the customer and the business owners where they agree that they can cut on the price because that can be slashed from VAT so that the goods become competitive and attractive to the customers which is tax evasion,” Mr Kamara noted.
He noted that a number of businesses have continued to operate without these EFD devices because they have not yet procured them. Mr. Kamara stressed the need to strengthen enforcement on the use of EFDs and provide stiffer penalties to those found wanting and that the Authority will continue to conduct routine checks
He urged people to always use their banking cards whenever they can, especially for large transactions as such will contribute to improving revenues. The Zambia Tax Platform is a multi-stakeholder group that provides a critical analysis of Zambia’s tax policy regime, tax administration and promotes sustained advocacy on improving public finance management. This is contained in a statement made available to ZANIS by Zambia Tax Platform Coordinator Ibrahim Kamara in Lusaka.
