Probe shady companies -Pule
GOVERNMENT must appoint a special frauds agency to investigate companies that have not registered in Zambia but were doing business and making profits off the heads of the Zambian people, says opposition Christian Democratic Party president Dan Pule.
Reverend Pule said there was need for the Government to appoint a specialized institution to oversee serious frauds, and not because of the the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), could not to dig deeper into the operations of such institutions involved in financial flight.
He said ACC was incapable of following through such investigations, but that there was need for an independent body to expose such activities of companies which syphon money from poor Zambians for the purpose of avoiding to pay tax.
“In my opinion such activities are illegal and unpatriotic, and if it is really established that Zambian owned companies are based outside the country and are owning shares here and there and are making money in Zambia and for avoiding paying tax there must be further investigation.
“They must be investigated for tax evasion and the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) must assess for necessary tax, and make those companies pay,” he said.
He charged that it did not matter if these businesses were owned by politicians or not, they must be made to settle their taxes in full.
He said any profit made in Zambia by any company whether registered offshore or not must be declared in Zambia and the necessary taxes paid, and ZRA must also investigate and report to the Zambian people such companies not meeting the obligations.
He said there was need to ensure all companies operating in Zambia live up to the tax obligations by law, and all those which fail to meet the tax law, that the Government must seize such investment.
He was commenting on revelations that some companies, among them Avani Victoria Falls Resort (formerly Livingstone Sun Hotel) were not registered in Zambia but was registered in Panama, one of the tax havens were the rich and most wealthy individuals and companies have opted take their money to avoid paying tax on their moneys.
“To my knowledge when the Sun Hotel (now Avani) came into Zambia, there were some incentive given by the Zambian Government to an investor coming to invest in Zambia.
“Those incentives were meant for companies which should have long term stay in Zambia, and it could not have obtained these incentives if they were not registered in Zambia,” he said.
He said that did not mean in any way that they get their profits and stash it somewhere for their own benefit without giving back to the Zambian people.
He said the Ministry of Finance should take special interest in the operations of these companies through ZRA to assess their compliance with tax, and even recover any such moneys which had not been paid.
He said the Zambian people want to have investors who had their interest at heart, and who should be paying taxes with the view to helping develop the nation in the long run.
He said such kind of investment must be deemed criminal as such companies were only interested in syphoning funds from the Zambian people and taking all such profits out of the country for their own selfish benefits.