Story by Tamuka Charakupa
THE Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion has joined forces with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) on a tax education programme aimed at boosting compliance.
The engagement, which brought together various stakeholders, comes at a time the government is seeking to bolster tax compliance to propel national development programmes.
Officials say the outreach is also meant to clarify tax obligations with a special focus on small to medium enterprises, whose formalisation remains a challenge in Mashonaland West province.
“In due course, our Minister is going to announce an array of measures put in place by government that promote the growth of businesses and ensure smooth compliance to taxes. We have seen it crucial to hold this meeting to sensitise our people on why they should pay taxes, cognisant of the fact that Zimbabwe is self-funding for everything,” Director Communications and Advocacy in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Ms Pretty Moyo said.
“As ZIMRA, we are appreciative of this programme because we are now penetrating hard-to-reach communities, particularly SMEs, with the growing call for formalisation of their operations,” ZIMRA official, Mrs Fungiso Muchengi noted.
Participants commended the engagement, saying it will help them understand their role in contributing to the national fiscus while also growing their businesses within the formal economy.
“We are a bit behind in terms of formalisation of our SMEs, but we appreciate this meeting as an eye opener to the benefits of operating within the confines of the law,” Mashonaland West Province’s Deputy Director, Economic Development, Garland Kunodziya said.
“As local authorities, this meeting has been helpful because some are close to facing garnishing, which means no access to any financial means because of failure to comply to their respective taxes or due to ignorance,” Mashonaland West Local Authorities Provincial Chairperson, Mr Misheck Nyarubero added.
“We are also using this platform to appeal to ZIMRA to revise some of its customs duties so that there is compliance among cross-border traders in the wake of increasing reports of traders using porous points,” Cross-border for ED Spokesperson Ms Ester Chinavainzva said.
The initiative is part of a broader initiative by the Second Republic to boost tax compliance and ensure locally available resources are harnessed to propel the national development agenda.
