A government plan to set up a national revenue authority in Zimbabwe, responsible solely for collecting taxes and duties, has been greeted with lukewarm enthusiasm. Traders and freight companies say that similiar bodies set up in other African countries have all been failures.
The most recent example has been Zambia, where the rate of collection fell from its already low levels. Corruption has been widespread as staff have made deals with individuals and companies to reduce the amount payable if a bribe is paid. At least two managers of the authority have been dismissed in the last three years.
Zimbabwe's finance minister, Herbert Murehwa, said in his budget speech at the end of July that the authority would be semi-autonomous and would be similar to Zambia's. Unofficial estimates say that tax and duty payments in Zimbabwe are only 30% of what they should be.
