ZRA TO HAVE ACCESS TO FINANCIAL DATA FROM OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS

ZAMBIA’S efforts to combat cross-border tax evasion and Illicit Financial Flows (IFFS) has gotten a boost, as the country will now be granted access to financial information on its residents held in other jurisdictions.

This information would, however, only be used for auditing and investigative purposes.

The progress comes after the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax purposes (Global Forum) in January this year, becoming the 171st member.

As a member of the forum, ZRA would be granted automatic access to financial information on Zambian residents that was held in other jurisdictions.

ZRA would also reciprocate on the supply of such information.

This would be possible through the forum’s standards called: Exchange of Information on Request (EOIR) and Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOIR).

ZRA Commissioner-General, Dingani Banda, unpacked these benefits of being a member at an awareness meeting in Lusaka yesterday. “The forum is a significant step forward for Zambia in promoting transparency and accountability in tax matters. This will put Zambia on the map as a country committed to promoting a fair, equitable, and transparent tax system.

“This will not only benefit our citizens but also contribute to the global efforts to promote sustainable development,” Mr Banda said.

He also said Zambia would have access to a wealth of expertise and capacity-building programmes that would help the ZRA enhance its capacity to implement the international standards.

This, he explained, would enable ZRA to combat cross-border tax evasion and IFFS, which were among the major challenges facing the global community currently.

“This will assist the country in averting cross-border tax evasion and IFFS, which will result in more revenue collections for government expenditure,” Mr Banda said.

During the meeting, Forum’s Senior Tax Policy Advisor and Outreach, Ervice Tchouta, explained that the information obtained by ZRA would be able for investigations and audit purposes only.

He also emphasised that exchange of information was key to cross border trade and combating tax evasion.

Mr Tchouta also noted that there was no free competition for business where tax evasion was present.

“The forum has 39-member countries from Africa out of the 54 on the Continent. As a forum, we provide capacity building like we are doing for Zambia,” he said.

Meanwhile, Head of the Global Forum Secretariat, Zayda Manatta, said the ascension of the Zambian tax agency would improve its capacity to fight tax evasion.