The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) – which is owed around US$2 billion in taxes by individuals and organisations – has issued a call for traders to remit taxes in the same currency in which the goods have been sold.
"Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has noticed that there are businesses that are trading, withholding and collecting value added tax (VAT), pay-as-you earn (PAYE), capital gains tax and other taxes in multi-currencies," said a Zimra spokesperson.
He added that businesses should remit taxes in the specific currencies in which they collected them without any conversion to RTGS, bond notes, local point of sale and mobile money.
“A number of businesses, especially the pharmaceuticals and the building materials industries, are demanding payment in forex. Some, however, trade the multi-currencies they get on the parallel market and then settle their tax and other obligations using RTGS and other electronic systems, making hefty profits in the process.”
Government has therefore urged Zimra to tighten its revenue collection mechanisms to plug loopholes.
