ZIMRA Commissioner General, Mr Gershem Pasi, reassured the business community that the Authority is there to nurture and promote business.
He said this at the Financial Gazette Executive Dialogue which ran under the theme: “Has ZIMRA become a threat to business?”
“The economic environment we have been operating in for the past decade has not been very favourable to both industry and government. For industry lines of credit have been very few and this has had a knock-down on effect on how industry settles its obligations, chief among them being tax payment.
“But not withstanding these challenges, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has always treated business as the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg. Nurturing and promoting business sector is paramount in the attainment of our goals as ZIMRA,” said the Commissioner General.
He went on to talk about initiatives that the Authority has put in place in order to promote business. For example, the harnessing of technology to ensure client convenience, the automation and modernisation of systems to consistently improve operational efficiency as well as the segmentation of clients by introducing the Large Client Office and offices for the Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) to ensure customised service.
Mr Pasi also talked about the tax amnesty which was recently announced by Government saying clients need to take full advantage of the amnesty so that they regularise and update their arrears.
“This (tax amnesty) presents an opportunity for all persons to disclose their incomplete or unreported information relating to the payment of tax obligations and to settle the principal tax, duties or amounts due.
“In exchange, the person will not be liable for penalty, interest or prosecution for the disclosed irregularities,” said the Commissioner General to a booming applause from the gallery.
On the most contentious issue of garnishee orders, the CG said this was an instrument employed as a last resort and when all the other avenues have been pursued and exhausted.
“This instrument is used by the Authority as a last resort in situations where no payment terms have been arranged, where there is failure to adhere to terms, and where there is outright tax evasion. So we should not mislead ourselves into believing that ZIMRA rushes to place garnishee orders, for we are fully aware of the implications of garnisheeing. In short, we encourage companies to discuss and adhere to tax payment plans,” said Commissioner General Pasi.
As a parting shot, Mr Pasi called on clients to take full advantage of the available platforms so that there is mutual and beneficial interaction between business and the Authority. “The ZIMRA-to-Business Forum is one platform which we can exploit in order to remove any obstacles which negatively affect the ease of doing business,” he said.