REVISED SURTAX CHEERS MANUFACTURERS
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU THE proposal by Minister of Finance, Felix Mutati, to extend the number of items on which a surtax will apply as well as to remove raw materials that are erroneously put on the tax schedule will encourage production and promote the local industry, says the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM).
In the 2017 national budget, Mr. Mutati introduced a surtax on selected imported products that were locally produced to support the growth of the local industry. In line with this policy, Mr Mutati has in the 2018 National Budget proposed to extend the number of items on which the surtax applies and also to remove raw materials that were erroneously put on the surtax schedule. ZAM executive director, Chipego Zulu, said the proposal would encourage production and promote the local industry going forward. She was speaking in an interview shortly after the presentation of the 2018 national budget in Lusaka.
"The removal of customs duty on inputs that are used in manufacturing is a major win for the sector, we have been advocating for it since last year and when the measure was initially introduced, we did have some challenges. We received that five per cent surtax which is an important input in our manufacturing processes," Ms. Zulu said.
Ms. Zulu explained that the tax made the local products more expensive.
Ms. Zulu also said the removal of customs duty on the production of fish and stock feeds as well as the exemption of unprocessed and semi processed tobacco would improve the lives of the players and the people at large.