Following the presentation of the 2020 National Budget Statement by the Minister of Finance & Economic Development to the Parliament of Zimbabwe on Thursday, 14 November 2019 below are the major tax and customs proposals
Fiscal Proposals for 2020 budget
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) yesterday held the handing over of the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) from Revenue Assurance and Special Projects division to the Customs and Excise division.
The event was hosted at the ECTS command centre at Kurima house and was attended by the ZIMRA Executive management, management, staff and various media houses.
The ECTS was introduced in May 2016 and it is a modernised enforcement tool used by customs globally for transit management and has played an important role in curbing transit fraud and decongesting the country’s ports of entry.
Speaking during the event, Commissioner General (CG), Ms Faith Mazani said ECTS has yielded positive results as smuggling syndicates have been intercepted across ports of entry.
“Electronically sealed trucks are no longer subject to physical examination and scanning, thereby improving turnaround times for movement of cargo and facilitating trade,” added Ms Mazani during her remarks.
The handover of the ETCS is part of the Authority’s drive to improve its processes and this system is being integrated into the mainstream functions of the organisation.
The Loss Control division will take over functions of the Control Room as part of a broader Command Centre project being undertaken by the Division.
Ms Mazani also thanked the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development for its continued support in this project since its inception in 2016, the ZIMRA staff who have been committed to making this project a success and she promised that ZIMRA will continue to work tirelessly towards improving the system to instil confidence to the point of achieving total compliance.
ZIMRA officials in a meeting with IMF delegation.
By Tanaka Chitongo
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority’s (ZIMRA) Commissioner General (CG) Ms Faith Mazani held a media briefing on 26 September 2018 at the conclusion of an International MonetaryFund (IMF) Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT) exercise that lasted two weeks.
The Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority is hereby notifying the owners of vehicles listed below to visit ZIMRA Loss Control Offices at ZB Centre corner First Street and Kwame Nkrumah in Harare for vehicle registration verification. The vehicle owners are instructed to bring the vehicle together with all customs clearance documents pertaining to their vehicles not later than 23 November 2019.
All enquiries should be directed to the following contact details:
Landline : 0242758122
: 0242771675
Mobile : 0712 424 743
: 0712 840 066
: 0712 845 603-7
: 0712 617 662
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The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority is taking a leading role in the implementation of the single window platform (an electronic platform that allows traders to submit all the relevant documents to agencies that interact/ part of the process of clearing import/ exports through one single gateway).
The Authority hosted a feedback breakfast meeting on Friday 24 May 2019 at Monomotapa hotel.
The breakfast meeting was meant to give the UNCTAD consultants to give feedback to stakeholders who are going to be part of the single window facility, after they had conducted visits with different agencies assessing their systems and how they will be integrated into this facility.
Speaking during the breakfast meeting, Director for ICT Mr Shami Moyo said this facility had played a critical role in countries such as Rwanda, who have improved into the two- digit category in the ease of business index and in the same vein Zimbabwe has had an inter- agency agreement with various agencies relevant in the facilitation of import and export processes in order to implement the single window concept in the country.
As a result they have consulted UNCTAD due to the experience they have in the area noting that the experts were part of the implementation process in Rwanda and other countries.
During the breakfast meeting, one of the consultants, Mr Christian Nizeyimana emphasised the benefits to all stakeholders including the traders, government, agencies and society if this project if fully implemented noting that Rwanda was placed at 159 in the ease of doing business index in 2011 in terms of trading across border and is currently placed 88 after they implemented this facility.
Mr Nizeyimana said they had already visited seventeen different stakeholders including ZIMRA, RBZ. EMA and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce among many others in order to assess their systems and how they could be integrated into the single window platform.
Some of the areas that could be considered in the single window in relation to ZIMRA operations are registration of distilling companies and import permit, licensing of customs brokers and licensing of operators of bonded warehouses, transit and container deports, he added.
Mrs Cecilia Chiyangwa said this facility was aligned to the SMART borders mantra embraced by the Customs and Excise Division.0
Mr Philbert Muchechetere
The Region 2 Customs Office held a highly successful breakfast meeting whose main aim was to iron out issues, which lead to the delay in the clearing of goods at the Border posts. Dubbed the “observations breakfast meeting”, presenters during the caucus were supervisors from Commercial Office, Declaration Processing Centre (DPC) and Container Depots. The supervisors’ task was to mention to clearing agents those things, which they should not do for efficient movement of goods at the border posts.
By Inzwirashe Chenai Muwonwa, recently in Bulawayo
The Clothing Manufacturers Rebate which was introduced in 2015 through statutory instrument 151 of 2015 and amended by SI 155 of 2017, 277 of 2018 and 39 of 2019 is expected to boost the local clothing manufacturing industry which has been facing viability challenges. In a consultative meeting organised by ZIMRA Region 2 Customs and Excise Division with clothing manufacturers in Bulawayo, it was revealed that the rebate has immense potential to benefit the local clothing industry. The sectorial meeting which forms part of the ZIMRA’s strategic nationwide taxpayer education campaign that ZIMRA launched in 2018, gave ZIMRA an opportunity to explain recent changes in legislation and also understand the challenges manufacturers were facing in importing much needed raw materials.
Recent changes brought by SI 39 of 2019 saw a removal from the rebate of raw materials for clothing manufacturers like warp knit fabrics of synthetic fibres, unbleached or bleached, dyed, of different colours and printed, which had been included under the Customs and Excise Clothing Manufacturer Rebate Regulations statutory instrument 151 of 2015. The rebate allows manufacturers to import textile materials duty free and tax free, which will help reduce import costs. The rebate is granted on goods listed in the Second Schedule of the regulations, when they are imported or taken out of bond for use in the manufacture of garments. The rebate covers fabrics, sewing thread, buttons, button moulds, fasteners and other garment accessories.
The clothing and textile industry has been weighed down by the influx of cheap sub-standard fabrics that continue to flood the local market leaving little room for growth of the industry. This is despite a raft of measures to protect local players which has included legislation banning the importation of second-hand clothing and import restrictions imposed by the Government. A rebate was therefore granted with the aim of boosting clothing manufacturers industry. However, concerns were raised over its abuse through transfer pricing, under-invoicing, and incorrect declarations. Some manufacturers have been accused of abusing the system by reselling the imported fabric. Players in the textile and clothing industry once called for the total removal of the rebate due to its abuse by some manufacturers.
In this regard, measures have been put by ZIMRA to guard against such abuse, which include a three-tier clearance process and strict adherence to procedures. Accordingly, goods are to be cleared at a Customs office nearest to the premise of the manufacturer. Manufacturers are not to dispose of the rebated goods to another person, except with written authority from the ZIMRA Commissioner of Customs and Excise and payment of the rebated duty. The rebated goods should be kept in the rebate store which are inspected by ZIMRA and no other goods are to be kept in the rebate store, than the rebated goods. Manufacturers are also required to keep a stock book and records for at least 6 years, submit an annual report to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development as well as to maintain a production register showing disposal of the compensating products.
During a Question & Answer session at the consultative meeting, clothing manufacturers raised concerns over the three-tier clearance process which was tedious and expensive. ZIMRA acknowledged the concern and advised the manufacturers that the issue had already been escalated and discussions are on-going for possible policy changes. Manufacturers also raised other concerns relating to the long process of registering a bond, where they recommended ZIMRA to simplify and shorten the process. Again, this matter was regarded as a policy one, which the clothing manufacturers could, through their associations, engage policy makers for amendments.
The manufacturers who attended the meeting with ZIMRA, applauded Region 2 Customs management Regional Manager Bekezela Majokojoko and Station Manager Nicholas Nkomo, for open critical stakeholder engagements and physical visits to manufacturers’ work stations to understand the nature of their work and challenges. The supervisor in charge of Rebates, Bonds and Excise, Makhosazana Kuture was named outstandingly as giving out ‘110% effort’ in engaging them.
Clients in the pharmaceutical industry were treated with a networking cocktail by ZIMRA’s Region 2 on 27 September 2018 at the Bulawayo Holiday Inn Hotel. The cocktail was aimed at encouraging voluntary compliance and reminding the clients about their tax obligations.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority is in the process of instituting robust revenue reforms, which will see improved tax compliance by the business community. The Commissioner General – Ms Faith Mazani – said this during her presentation at the KPMG 2018 IFRS Tax and Business Seminar held in the capital on 13 September 2018.
