STOP CHEATING …Zimra, RBZ appeal for forex tax payment
HARARE
- The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) have warned businesses transacting in foreign currency but not remitting taxes in forex that they face heavy censure if caught. The two institutions issued a joint appeal for voluntary compliance with tax laws. This comes amid indications that some businesses were charging foreign currency for goods and services but were recording the sales in local dollars. Zimbabwe, which for over a year had officially been using a mono-currency for trading, in June this year allowed businesses to dually price their goods and services in local currency and in foreign currency, primarily the United States dollar. Since then, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said there has been a 50-50 usage of the local currency and the greenback in the number of businesses transactions recorded. There are cases were some proprietors were declining local dollars. But oddly, this has not been the same in terms of tax compliance with some businesses cheating Government but either total failure to declare transactions conducted in foreign currency or under-declaring for tax purposes. Businesses are required to split their tax payments in both local currency and foreign currency depending on which currency was used for transacting. Zimra Commissioner General Faith Mazanhi said it had been established that businesses had devised schemes to conceal transactions conducted in foreign currency to avoid paying tax using the same. “Where a sale is recorded in Zimbabwean dollars, the invoices, till slips and receipts recording the sale must be issued in Zimbabwean dollars,” she said while addressing a joint Zimra and RBZ virtual press conference. The tax authority established that to avoid paying tax in foreign currency, some businesses were allegedly not recording transactions being tendered for in foreign currency while where transactions had been recorded, part of the foreign currency was not being declared for tax purposes.