Zimra surpasses April target

THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) says it surpassed its gross revenue target for April 2018 by 9,81 percent to reach $361,88 million.

Zimra acting corporate communications head Taungana Ndoro, said the strong performance was on account of a number of measures the authority put in place to improve revenue collection.

“The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) continued on a positive revenue performance trajectory during the month of April 2018 surpassing the (net collections) target by 6,14 percent after deducting refunds.

“Gross collections for the month amounted to $361, 88 million, which translates to 9,18percent above the targeted $331,47 million. After deducting refunds of $10, 06 million, net collections stood at $351,83 million.

“This gives a positive variance of 6,14percent against the target of $331, 47 million.

“Net revenue collections in April 2018 improved by 41,92 percent from the $247,90 million that was collected during the same period in 2017,” said Mr Ndoro.

He attributed the positive performance to the intensification of risk-based audits and follow up efforts by Zimra.

He attributed the general improvement in the performance of revenue heads on Companies, VAT on Imports, Customs Duty and Other Taxes.

The companies tax revenue head was the highest performer with collections for the month rising to $46,89 million against a target of $13,70 million.

Improved profitability by some companies coupled with enhanced compliance checks triggered the revenue head to the massive growth.

Spillovers from the first Quarterly Payment Dates (QPD) also enhanced revenue collections for April, hence the sharp spike in growth figures.

Zimra said on the flip-side, Individuals tax, VAT on Local Sales and Excise Duty performed below expectations although all revenue heads performed much better as compared to the same period in 2017.

This improvement is attributed to the Authority’s revenue enhancement initiatives as well as the improved operating business environment.

$33,83 million was collected for gross Customs Duty, inclusive of refunds of $110 228 against a target of $29,36 million, resulting in a positive variance of 14,84 percent.

When compared to the same period in 2017 where Zimra collected $21,42 million, there is marked growth of 57,38percent.

Revenue collections of $65 million from Excise Duty were 5,95percent below the targeted $69,11 million.