Our response to Mr Alexander Nkosi’s submissions

INTERESTING submissions by Mr Alexander Nkosi. These are the kind of sober debates that we need to develop our country, not insults by blind followers as if they are defending a cult.

Mr Nkosi missed other key aspects of the PeP 2022 Alternative National Budget, which include a significantly higher allocation of resources to ZRA for increased enforcement of compliance.

When ZRA is given more money, they will be able to attract and retain the best tax experts on the market, so that when they go for a tax audit at a mine, for instance, or when a dispute goes to the Tax Appeals Tribunal, it is ZRA that will have a technical advantage over the taxpayer.

Currently the opposite is true because all the tax experts are in the private sector and on the side of taxpayers.

That’s a key part of the reforms in the PeP 2022 Alternative National Budget which would bring about increased tax revenue collections.

The other key reform is to stop pilferage of tax revenue through back room deals between Government officials and large taxpayers especially in the mining sector, whereby a taxpayer is allowed to pay reduced taxes by Government in return for that taxpayer making contributions to the ruling party.

This revenue leakage has been happening since time immemorial and there is so far no evidence that it will stop under the new dawn administration.

Therefore, Mr r Nkosi should also take into consideration these two additional reforms in the PeP 2022 National Budget which will bring about increased tax revenue collections and allow the budget to be fully funded from domestic resources without the need to borrow.