Mon, 06 Mar 2017 12:33:39 +0000
No hidden taxes on TPIN-Mutati
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
THERE are no hidden taxes which come with the requirement for all bank account holders to have a Tax Payers Identification Number (TPIN) as all taxes are done in a transparent manner, says Minister of Finance Felix Mutati.
And Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) commissioner general Kingsley Chanda said the requirement for TPIN on all bank account holders was to support integration efforts between tax administration and key economic sectors.
Speaking at a private sector and Government consultative seminar on Economic Stabilisation and Growth Programme in Lusaka recently, Mr Mutati emphasised that there were no new taxes introduced on the bank account holders as the TPIN was not a tax.
“There has been a lot of concern that through some process we are trying to tax you through the TPIN. This is not a tax. Any form of tax is governed by law,” he said.
“We did not pass an Act of Parliament in 2017 to recover any tax using bank accounts. The TPIN is merely to convert tax compliance and tax administration. So, there is no need to worry, there are no hidden taxes,” he said.
Mr Mutati explained that the principle of tax was that it must be done in a transparent manner as opposed to how it had been suggested by some people.
Meanwhile, Mr Chanda emphasised that the exercise was not meant to check people’s personal accounts but a measure used by the authority to improve tax compliance as well as to broaden the Government tax base.
“The measure will make it easy for ZRA to identify individuals and entities that are in receipt of undeclared income such as dividends and interests,” he said.
Mr Chanda said the measure was also intended to register all individuals and businesses that were eligible for tax registration.
He explained that being appropriately registered with ZRA was also beneficial to taxpayers as Government and most institutions preferred conducting business with individuals and businesses that were tax compliant.
“Let me hasten to mention that this measures is not unique to Zambia.
You may wish to know that the requirement for a TPIN is neither new nor limited to institutions registered under the Banking and Financial Services Act,” he said.
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Local investors need incentives too, says CUTS
BY MAILESI BANDA
GOVERNMENT needs to be deliberate in its efforts to promote local investment as many of the investment incentives they are making are targeted towards Foreign Direct Inves-tors (FDI), CUTS international centre coordinator Chenai Makumba has said.
Ms Makumba said the incentives made on FDIs risked the economy giving up more than they should in terms of revenue.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, she said while the incentives were im-portant in an effort to attract and keep foreign investors in the country there was need to create a conducive environment for local investment as well.
“As civil society organisations (CSO) we appeal to the Government to review the tax in-centives schemes for foreign direct investors and look to putting in place stronger mechanisms to encourage local investment,’’ she said.
She said currently Government had a framework that was more attuned to attracting foreign direct investment than it was at promoting local investment.
She explained that while FDI was an important component of the economy, research had revealed that local investment would generate two to four times more economic benefit in terms of jobs, tax revenue and income than every dollar spent by a foreign company.
She said local business investments would keep the money circulating domestically while FDI money would leave the country because locally owned businesses spent more of their money domestically and were able to facilitate the local multiplier effect.
She said this created a ripple effect as the local businesses and their local employees in turn spent their money locally.
She advised Government to be deliberate in its efforts to promote local investment.
She said if the country was to attain economic growth, local investment should not be left out.
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Communication vital component to our operations -BoZ
By Oliver Samboko
COMMUNICATION is a very important component to our operations as it acts as a vehicle for sharing information to the public, says Bank of Zambia Governor Denny Kalyalya.
He said this at the official opening of the ninth Bank of Zambia Seminar for members of Parliament being held at Lake Kariba Inns lodge in Siavonga.
Dr. Kalyalya said the seminar has been organised in order to interact with members of Parliament so that they could have better insight into the operations of the Bank and the role it played in the economy.
He said seminars provide detailed exposition of the Bank’s operations and measures it implemented to achieve price and financial system stability.
He said through the BoZ New Forward Monetary Policy Framework, the Central Bank would strive to become more transparent and accountable by increasingly explaining its actions and the underlying reasons as it endeavoured to meet its goals.
Dr. Kalyalya said the Central Bank has made significant progress in its communication with stakeholders, such as the publication of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Statements in addition to press briefings and PowerPoint presentation which were posted on BoZ website. He said the knowledge the members of Parliament would acquire from the seminar would enable them to effectively debate in the area of monetary and supervisory policies and provide a firm foundation to legislate appropriate monetary and financial sector laws so as to promote sustainable development.
He disclosed that the Bank of Zambia has from April 2012 moved to a new monetary policy framework, adding that the move was necessary for effectively implementation of the policy.
Dr. Kalyalya further disclosed that on February 22nd, 2017, the MPC adjusted the Bank of Zambia policy rate, Statutory Reserve Ratio and overnight lending facility rate based on new forward looking monetary policy framework. He said the decision followed the projected inflation falling within the medium term target of 6-8% which he said would encourage provision of credit to private sector and support financial system stability.
He said over the past 18 months when the country faced serious economic challenges, the Bank of Zambia took important monetary policy action that helped to reduce the inflation from 22.9 in February 2016 to 6.8% in February 2017 which has brought stability in the exchange rate.
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NGO wants fish trade drive African economies
BY MAILESI BANDA
INTRA-REGIONAL fish trade has the potential to improve food security and reduce poverty at both household and national level, Fish Trade programme manager Sloans Chimatiro has said.
Dr. Chimatiro said responsible and equitable fish trade and marketing could benefit Zambians as the country was endowed with fisheries, adding that aquaculture could improve the livelihood of the people.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Dr. Chimatiro said if well harnessed the aquaculture industry had the potential to grow the country’s economy.
He explained that the Fish Trade project was a four-year programme that had been funded by the European Union and was meant to harness the potential of fisheries and aquaculture across 21 African countries, including Zambia.
He stated that the aim of the project was to reduce hunger and poverty in Africa through the promotion of fisheries.
“We hope to bring change in the way Africa trades fish by promoting effective policies that expand fish trade opportunities,’’ he said.
The project was targeting small scale fish farmers, processors and traders so that the incomes of those involved in the fish value chain could be improved.
He stated that the project was intended to provide a solution to poverty faced by many fish dependent communities across Africa.
“We hope to provide a pathway out of poverty for many fish- dependent communities across Africa and improve the economic status of these countries, including Zambia,’’ he said.
He said Zambia was a large producer and consumer of fish but lacked proper policy implementation that would increase investment into the sector.
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Govt, stakeholders partner for economic growth
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
GOVERNMENT is engaging key stakeholders to obtain feedback on the stabilisation programme aimed at promoting economic growth, says Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba.
Mr Yamba emphasised that Government believed that it could restore stability in the economy if it worked together with key stakeholders such as the private sector.
He said the economy last year was characterised by challenges such as low commodity prices which led to the slow economic growth.
“Growth has been slow which affected demand and then we had low commodity prices on the international market that also affected the export earnings especially copper and other royalties we get from the copper earnings.
“It is in this regard that Government is engaging different sectors such as the media who are key economic players to obtain feedback on the stabilisation programme that Government has embarked on,” he said.
He was speaking at a private sector and Government consultative seminar on Economic Stabilisation and Growth Programme in Lusaka recently.
Mr Yamba said Government had embarked on a home-grown programme aimed at restoring fitness in the economy and in addressing the economic challenges experienced last year.
“On the domestic front, the challenges included the electricity supply constraints which affected all sectors of the economy. This led to the importation of the emergency power and payments on fuel subsidies that put pressure on the Treasury.
“In addition, the depreciation of the Kwacha led to the increase in debt service and this complicated the cost of doing business in the country. In order to address these challenges, Government has been working on a home-grown programme to restore fiscal fitness and general economic stability,” he said.
