Study points to huge losses due to misinvoicing

Relations between the mining
industry and the Zambian
government could sour again
after the elections following
the publishing of a report
“Trade Misinvoicing in Primary
Commodities in Developing
Countries” by professor Léonce
Ndikumana of the University of
Massachusetts in Amherst.
Funded by the United
Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (Unctad),
the study found that between
1995 and 2014 the Zambian
fiscus suffered severe losses due
to under-invoicing of copper
exports totalling over US$37
billion.
In 2015 War on Want
published a study which
estimated that Zambia was
losing up to US$3 billion a year
due to “tax avoidance and tax
evasion” by multinationals.
“Zambia’s results show copper
export under-invoicing, with the
notable exception of trade with
Switzerland and the United
Kingdom, which exhibits export
over-invoicing of US$31.8
billion and US$4.4 billion,
respectively,” says Ndikumana
in the Unctad report.
Trade with Singapore, South
Africa and the United Republic
of Tanzania also exhibits export
over-invoicing, albeit at a
“relatively smaller proportion
compared to Switzerland”.
Switzerland and China
accounted for an accumulated
US$31.8 billion of export overinvoicing
and US$5.6 billion
of export under-invoicing,
respectively.