Zambia’s tax collection jumps in H1, easing debt pressure

• by Reuters
• 0 Comments

LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia collected 26 percent more tax in the first half of this year compared with the same period a year ago, easing some pressure on the financially-strained copper producer, the revenue collection agency said on Thursday.

A man displays a 50,000 Kwacha note in Lusaka January 23, 2012. REUTERS/Mackson Wasamunu/File Photo

Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) collected 23.2 billion kwacha ($2.4 billion) in the first half of the year, 6.4 percent above its target, boosted by value added tax revenue, the ZRA commissioner-general Kingsley Chanda said.

Zambia delayed all planned borrowing indefinitely after its debt pile rose to $9.3 billion at the end of March, up from $8.7 billion at the end of 2017.

ZRA paid out 4.2 billion kwacha in VAT refunds, including 2.5 billion kwacha to the mining companies in Africa’s No.2 copper producer, ZRA said in a statement.

The refunds did not include a disputed 4.1 billion kwacha related to a rule requiring mining companies to provide proof that metal exports had reached the declared destination, it said.

Zambia has been withholding some money owed to mining companies in tax refunds because the correct documentation has not been provided.

Assessments totaling 16.7 billion Zambian kwacha had been issued against some of the major claimants and taxpayers in the mining sector, ZRA said.

Mining companies hoped an amicable solution would soon be reached with the revenue authority, Zambia Chamber of Mines chief executive officer Sokwani Chilembo said.

($1 = 9.8500 Zambian kwachas)

• investingNews