Individual, company tax top Q3 revenue contributions

INDIVIDUAL tax payers and companies contributed the bulk of revenue to the fiscus in the third
quarter ended 30 September in which the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) surpassed the new
quarterly revised target of $500,25 billion.

Zimra attributed the positive performance to enhanced revenue strategies it continues to
implement but acknowledged the inflation creep, which has necessitated a supplementary budget
due to the weakening of the local dollar.

Treasury had to revise the annual tax revenue target upwards in line with the prevailing operating
environment from $809,4 billion to $1,6 trillion.

Zimra Commissioner General, Ms Regina Chinamasa said despite the macro-economic pressures,
which have been compounded by the crippling impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on key trade
supplies, all revenue heads recorded positive gains.

“All revenue heads registered growth in both nominal and real terms except for net VAT on local
sales, which declined by 4,21 percent and 2,18 percent in nominal and real terms respectively on
account of a huge refund bill amounting to $44,67 billion,” said Ms Chinamasa in a statement
accompanying the revenue report for the period.

“Major contributors to net revenue collections for the third quarter were Individuals (18,65
percent), Companies (15,6 percent), Excise Duty (13,16 percent), VAT on Imports (11,57 percent)
and VAT on Local Sales (10,68 percent).”
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Ms Chinamasa said salary adjustments in recent months and part payment of salaries in foreign
currency were likely causes of the positive performance of the Individuals Tax head, which
contributed the most.

Similarly, companies recorded a positive performance during the quarter, surpassing the set target
by 33,77 percent while VAT on local sales performed below expectations, missing the target by 4,21
percent in net terms while gross collections were 58,29 percent above the target.

Ms Chinamasa said VAT on imports tax head performed positively, surpassing the target by 31,66
percent as Customs and Excise Duties also surpassed their targets by 14,14 percent and 28,83
percent, respectively.

The Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMTT), also known as the two cents tax, performed above
the set target as it increased by 13,68 percent.

“The authority surpassed the new quarterly revised target of $500,25 billion by 37,16 percent in
gross terms and 28,17 percent in net terms as a result of revenue enhancement strategies it
continued implementing,” said Ms Chinamasa.
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She said Domestic Revenue Mobilisation was critical in oiling national development programmes,
especially in the context of sanctions that continue to frustrate access to international lines of
credit and constrain development funding support.

In order to enhance ease of doing business for convenient taxation, she said Zimra has rolled out
self-service kiosks in Harare to enhance efficiency in tax remittance particularly targeting Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The self-service caters for clients who have challenges accessing the internet and the project is
expected to expand to other parts of the country and reduce SMEs’ compliance costs.

“Some of the completed works under the ongoing border modernisation and upgrade project at
Beitbridge Border Post were commissioned during the quarter to improve efficiency in trade
facilitation,” she said.

Ms Chinamasa also said the authority was scaling up collaboration with other law enforcement
agencies to curb corruption and plug revenue leakages.

“Plans are underway to take these anti-corruption campaigns to the grassroots through
roadshows,” she said.-The Chronicle