LUSAKA, (The Southern African Times) – Zambia’s revenue agency on Monday said it has started implementing a new mechanism aimed at refunding firms Value Added Tax (VAT) in a more accountable, transparent, and predictable way.
Topsy Sikalinda, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Corporate Communications Manager said the new mechanism was aimed at stimulating the growth of the business sector especially the small and medium scale enterprises following complaints of the slow refund process in the past.
“The refunds payments process is being done on an equitable first-in, first-out basis,” he said in a release.
He said an audit conducted established that there were about 3,000 pending refunds for the period between 2013 and September 2021.
This, he said, represented 744 taxpayers mainly small and medium enterprises, adding that tax refunds were projected to rekindle microeconomic activity at the local level and enhance liquidity in the small and medium enterprises.
The positive assumptions are that the liquidity being injected into the small businesses will further assist to mitigate the financial shocks in the business environment, especially during this period of COVID-19, he added.
According to him, the initiative demonstrated the agency’s intention of building goodwill and trust with its strategic partners and the business community who were expected to practice voluntary compliance on all tax matters.
