Finance and National Planning minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has said that the late president Levy Mwanawasa may have changed his stance on the windfall tax. Dr. Musokotwane said that it is wrong to state that he changed his mind on the windfall tax, when he was the economic adviser to the late president.
He said that even under the late president, he had his opinion, ruling out the possibility of entirely supporting the windfall tax. He said that he has since maintained that the windfall tax was wrong, describing it as an illusion.
He said that whether Zambians like it or not, the windfall tax was very wrong to the Zambian mining sector. Dr. Musokotwane stated that the sooner Zambians realize that it is a wrong initiative to collect tax, the better. He said that it is government’s responsibility to ensure that they collect enough tax from the mine companies.
And Dr. Musokotwane has announced that beginning next year, the mining companies will be paying more tax. He said that the mining revenues will increase, from the initiatives that the government is putting in place.
QFM
Your stance will cost you votes, continue with your behaviour of favouring foreigners.
Shikulu ba Musokotwane lekeni ukulumbula ba (real) kateka abafwa. we all know that u are just a cadre, you’are just Lupiya’s mouth piecce. why didnt you make your position known before LPM died? what makes you thinl that Levy could’ve changed his mind? I expect you to reason with the general public why you think windfall tax should not be reintroduced, instead of just communicating President Banda’s visionless views.
Why don’t you just say that seeing development in Zambia under the current govt is an illusion? It will make a lot of sense.
We want a govt that will collect every ngwee from our God given resources and turn illusions or fantasies into tangible realities.
Kuyabebele
Iam tired of listerning to crap from our leaders. They talk like like they are citizens of another country.
It is very sad to see how foreigners are busy milking us of our resources and to see our leaders talking rubish.Imwe bafikila mulefwaya tukalandile kwii!
This shameless bootlicker,Why didnt object the introduction of windfull taxes on mines when Levy was still alive?Dont support blindly becoz you have a job and salary while many zambians are suffering who pay taxes everyday.YOU WILL CRY ONE DAY
Thats why Tongas say ifi balozi tafyakwata amano- ati iyo chimbuya! This generation (50 upwards) is a real flop. Very useless layer of Zambians. Young people should stand up and take over this country. Our parents have really failed us collectively!
A windfall is tax levied by governments against certain industries when economic conditions allow those industries to experience above-average profits. Windfall taxes are primarily levied on the companies in the targeted industry that have benefited the most from the economic windfall, most often commodity-based businesses.
Now Ba minister tell us whether this is illusion or not???
As with all tax initiatives instituted by governments, there is always a divide between those who are for and those who are against the tax. The benefits of a windfall tax include proceeds being directly used by governments to bolster funding for social programs. However, those against windfall taxes claim that they reduce companies’ initiatives to seek out profits. They also believe that profits should be reinvested to promote innovation that will in turn benefit society as a whole.
Windfall taxes will always be a contentious issue debated between the shareholders of profitable companies and the rest of society.
No. 7 walasa. This Musokotwana says Mining companies will be paying more taxes next year, Ala kabili, Musonkotwane iwe, the Mining companies should start paying more taxes this year. There is a supervficial high selling price for copper. WE should benefit whilst the sun is shining. The price can collapse next year the year you plan to collect more tax. We are not children to lie to. We the people are your master.
#7 Wanya Wanya.. I agree with you 100%. I came that conclusion a few months back. They were the direct beneficiaries of KK’s vision that brought them to where they are from the villages they were born in but have failed to think, execute or inspire any one. they are all myopic and lack patriotism… They have been a worthless layer in Zambia’s history.
8..Dont care…………….would you be happy yourself if ZRA decided to apply windfall tax in your business becoz you are making above normal profit?????
Yes suppose windfall tax is applied on this mining firms, wouldnt a vice versa situation fair, where as if they make unforseen loses, the govt should pay them something as a cution????? i know of many Zambians doing business abroad who are making extremely abnormal profits but no windfall tax has been applied just because they are foreigners. Would like Zambians abroad to be charged windfall tax as well????? BE HUMAN….
Dont ever accuse us with our tribe caseins.Lozis ar our brothers,u cn not even fill ashamed of yurself, de lozi people my friend they ar far much better than yu Bembas, so dont pollute anything between us.i hav never head any Tonga sayng ifi ba lozi tafyakwata amanu stop accusing tongas omubwa yebo.
‘And Dr. Musokotwane has announced that beginning next year, the mining companies will be paying more tax.’ – Bo Musokotwane do you have control over the copper prices? Why do you think someone coined up the phrase ‘make hay while the sun shines’. If you have an opportunity to do something, do it before the opportunity expires… Not Bo Musokotwane he insists we wait for next year, serious myopic thinking.
Australia will introduce a mining tax after all the propaganda from the mining companies this year.
They spent $50 million on advertising to sway public opinion but now all their money will be wasted as the government here WILL introduce MINING TAX on the.
The price was at 3000 per tonne when Rupiah came to town and now the price is 7000 higher.
This is the same situation in Australia and we will not lay down to the Chinese and australian owned mines her.
WHAT COUNTRY REFUSES TO COLLECT TAXES?
Zambia only gets 2% for its budget yet the Mines take 70% profits.
Even an audit of two mines has revealed there is more taxes ready to collect from illegal accountants who try to foo.l Zambians that they are poor and need 5 years of tax free from Rupiah.
Go to Hell MMD
FOOLISH!!! mazo mazo apa you were ec advisor to LPM meaning you were cheating him just like you are doing now to RB. These chaps are full of inconsistences.
#7 Wanya Wanya and Mpangula Mputyu. Honestly you two are i.d.i.ots. Musokotwane is representing his govt and Lozi’s have nothing to do with this. You two are tribalist swi/nes who cannot judge an individual in his or her own right but you always gravitate towards ones ethnicity or race. This is the hallmark of tribalists and racists. By your own warped thinking if Chiluba is a thief therefore all Bemba speaking tribes are criminals! It would be tempting for me to make this charge but I wont sink to your i.d/io/tic levels. Mo/ro.ns!
Wanya Wanya you shuold not comment on things you dont understand. Dr Mosokotwane has a Phd in economics, since he became the minister of Finance the Zamian economy has been performing very well. For your information Zambia’s economy is amoung the best 10 in Africa thanks to Dr Mosokotwane.
Your tone shows that you are uneducated fellow with street mentality. Think before you write anything or else dont post stupid items. Shameiwe mafi
Iwe Kapuli dont mention a dead person. It is tabbo since he wont be able to respond.
watch out? This guy will be fired before the convetion for talking like this like his fellow surviver in the buffalo plane that crash landed a few months ago in Kasempa.
hey,Mr.now finance minister,if my memory saves me right you were one of the permanent secretaries at ministry of finance,how come to day you claim the tax was erroneously implemented,we did not here this when you were there.you are a serious let down.you have no back bone,the people of Zambia will never take you serious.
#12: Are u zambian or zimbabweni, how do u compare akatemba to a mining companies – mojor source of government revenues? – to hell with your shallow mind.
#18: Can u substantiate your claim? is there anything u can show to prove that the economy has improved with the coming of Mr Musokotwane? Having a PhD doest translate into performance, if anything, its only in Zed that people holding PhDs are nearly worshiped. Mr Musokotwane may have a PhD (from whichever university) but his behavior and performance are that of a cadre. The man supported the introduction of the windfall tax when Levy was alive, but today the tax has became an ‘illusion’ since President Banda isnt for the idea.
thinking on behalf of a dead person. shame
Seriously we wait for next year when copper prices will have fallen and demand will be low? This man is not serious.
“mm” mudala easy. Forgive #7. By the way Musokotwane is Tokaleya from Zimba kwa Musokotwane. Tokaleyas are actually Tongas so there is no Chimbuya between the Musokotwanes and Tongas.
The truth about our late president had he not died ba Musokotwane is that He would have fired RB therefore he would not have been President and you would not have been Finance Mininster because Magande would have continued, and because he supports Windfall Tax, then it goes without saying that it would still be around.
ITS TRUE MUDALA MAKE HEY WHEN THE SUN IS STILL SHINING. YOU NEVER NO WHAT WILL HAPPEN TOMMORROW. Va next year IVO NIKUSOWA fore sight.
ZAMBIANS WILL JUDGE YOU FOR YOUR ACTIONS. We are not supposed to be poor as a nation. Promblem NDIMWE MA Managers.
I find it difficult to understand the educated in this country.whats wrong with our academicians? what has made professionals in this country to behave the way they do? what is school for?it seems,the educated have failed to run this country.read the auditor general’s report,does it mean that Zambia’s education system teaches people to plunder and steal? what about those in authority? why do they fail to provide proper advise to the president? Dr musokotwane is very educated but he has become a cadre, instead of helping the country to move forward by collecting more revenue but alas, he has decided to do the opposite.the scholars in this country dont inspire me because they are always manipulative and they dont rise above party affiliation.
# 1 leaders should not do things just to get votes. so if the majority will not vote for musokotwane policies because of his conviction for his country, because of his expertise then that is good. at least he is open about his views on this tax. as for you # 1 ask the chap you will vote for if he will introduce that tax.
and i dont think mwanawasa ran a perfect economy, though he did some good thing. at his time Sata had been advocation for reduced taxes if you followed the politics then
#22 go read CSO statistic about income levels and formal employment numbers.use constant parameter to judgement economic improvement.
what i am hearing on the blog is not unique to zambia. South africans claim foreigner are stealing their wealth, and so in namibia, bostwana, swaziland, lesothu, zimbabwe etc. xenophobic feelings by nation is done out of genuine frustration though misguided. the truth is countries develop because of private sector money not gov money. in zambia too many people thing gov is capable/ should look after them. no that is not the role of gov.if you all that you will end being the 2nd largest economy in the world but still have citizens only fit to be classified as third world country. i wish there was a simplier way to explain this
Aka ka chikalah has been paid money by the mining companies otherwise he couldn’t be speaking so loudly on their behalf. He who pays the pipe says the tune! Ifi fyashi mu Zambia fiipuba sana kuti fyashitisha naabana kuli bamwiisa!! Ama labishi yekayeka.
Zambia ichalo chaba Christiani bushe tulelola kwii?
That is why we need a completely brand new crop of young men and women to lead the country. We cant take this rubbish anymore. These quacks cant fight and defend for their own people. Abash MMD, Abash PF. Let the young Zambians who are ready to redeem the country rise up to leadership. Why should we stick to 70 year old people for leadership when they should counting their days at the farms or care homes. Their brains are rusted beyond description. Not even acid will remove the corrosion. We need people to work as servants for the country and not the cruel masters that we have now. Shame on them.
@29 Unworried Bachelor – Infact aka ka——-was prepared to die in his defence of this TAX when LPM was alive. The mines tried to explain and plead to this ka chi— but to no avail. I remember the many trips the CEOs of the mines made to Lusaka just to meet aka kach…….RB is not in safe hands with these boot lickers. They see his wrongs, but so long as they benefit from him it is okay.
” He said that whether Zambians like it or not, the windfall tax was very wrong to the Zambian mining sector. Dr. Musokotwane stated that the sooner Zambians realize that it is a wrong initiative to collect tax, the better. ”
In other words, he is serving a different master than the Zambian people.
By the way, forget all the Lozi and Bemba stuff, this is of national importance. They are screwing everyone over, and are only looking out for themselves as individuals. They are truly united in their plunder, and so should we be opposing them.
In The Post, dr. Musokotwane states:
” “I draw technical expertise from IMF and World Bank, which do not support windfall tax. If you are taxing mining companies about 90 per cent of their profits, it means there is no incentive for them. ”
The Windfall Tax does not tax 90% of all profits, it is a progressive tax, that increases for every bracket that the price of copper progresses through. If dr. Musokotwane doesn’t understand the concept of progressive taxation, he truly has no business being a finance minister, or even an accountant.
#25 There is no relationship between the Musokotwanes of Zimba and the Finance Minister. They just happen to share the same name (Toka Leyas for some reason always tend to have Lozi names). The Finance Minister is from Western Province. And please Toka Leyas are not Tonga.
no progressive nation is enforcing w fall tax because its not only unfair for business but its also not pro growth. all economic indicators are good for zambia and let not be hoodwinked these socialist thinking where unproductive is rewarded at the expense of productivity
I wonder where the learned are taking us now.IMF and WORLD BANK have always told ZAMBIAN government to reintroduce the windfull mining taxes but they say it will cause mining firms MIGHT GO AWAY.Let me as ask,DID KCM,MOPANI,LUMWANA mines bring with them the minerals they are currently mining?answer is NO,the minerals are a gift from GOD..What is causing REVOTES in MIDDLE EAST and NORTH AFRICA?LuCK of EMPLOYMENT,NO BENEFITS FROM THE COUNTRY WEALTH ETC copper is USD9700 @ tonne bt poverty levels are high even in mining towns.SHAME ON MMD
# who owns the mines in Namibia, Bostwana, SA, USA, UK, s. then who owns the mines in Zimbabwe, chile, ecuado, venezuela, Malawi. am sure you see the difference. zambia is in the process of joining one of these groups
#36 who owns the mines in Namibia, Bostwana, SA, USA, UK, s. then who owns the mines in Zimbabwe, chile, ecuado, venezuela, Malawi. am sure you see the difference. zambia is in the process of joining one of these groups
Please get over Mwanawasa. Living in the past does not move anyone forward.
this man Musokotwane, wat makes him think that LPM would have changed on the windfall tax? does he think LPM was unprincipled as he is? i dont think levy would have behaved the way he is doing. LPM had the heart for Zambians and RB and his Govt doesnt think about us. it is all about themselves. My advise to Musokotwane is that if i were him i would have reintroduced windfall tax now just to get votes.i agree with #1 this windfall tax will cost Musokotwane votes.I dont know were his geting the guts from by even saying that other taxes will be introduced next when he will not be that offices. we need people who will stand up for Zambians and not those jocks u call FM. starting counting your days
For a people that civilized the world Africans of the modern era have gone bonkers. In short what I take is that mines can produce and choose if and when they want to re-invest into Zambia. Wow!
On “Finance and National Planning minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has said that the late president Levy Mwanawasa may have changed his stance on the windfall tax” the best person to speak on behalf of late President LP Mwanawasa is Mrs Maureen Mwanawasa — and also Magande Ng’andu may have have better details about late LPM’s plan on the Windfall Tax.
This Dr Musokotwane is a let down and I felt very sad for him when he was bashed on the Radio programme by serious contributors that day. I even feel that he wont be able to accept to go on such a fora again due to fear.
Be blest all and vote for HH and UPND in the 2011 tripartite elections to form GRZ Administration this year.
_
Matt 6:33
We have not been lucky with leadership……………………………..iye mayo liluba walya. Maranatha : come Lord Jesus
#33 MrK, good morning. I saw your response to my challenge to correct your wrong figures on taxation in the Chilean mining industry, sorry I had no time to respond as I was preparing to sit for the last papers of my final last exams yesterday. Here is my response.
ii. I gave you the correct figure of $4billion as average annual tax that the Chilean government collects from its mining industry instead of the $40billion that you claimed. And I quoted my source on the internet for everybody to verify. In your response instead of accepting your error magnanimously, you simply brushed it aside claiming that “maybe it was revenue not tax” and yet you wanted Zambians to believe your wrong figures by pretending to be an authority on a matter that you have no verifiable facts. Now revenue and tax are two very different things. You even stated that Chile’s copper mining industry is owned by the state through Codelco. At worst that is a lie and at best confirms that you are ignorant and out to deceive the innocent people of Zambia. Let me correct you again…
iii.
1. It is NOT true that the copper industry in Chile is state owned. The TRUTH is that the private sector accounts for at least 66% of Chilean copper production and the state through Codelco account for the rest.
2. The single largest copper mine produces 1.3million tons of copper and is owned by a private consortium of BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto & Japan Escondida. Other large private players (200,000tons and above) include Anglo American etc.
3. Chile produces 5.4million tons of copper annually against Zambia’s 700,000 so the tax revenues are necessarily much higher.
4. Chile boasts of one of the most progressive and competitive mining tax regimes in the industry. This has attracted massive private investments which has led it to build its copper industry to the status of…
iv. As a result of progressive and attractive tax policies, Chile’s production is now so high that the government is assured of a good tax income just on production levels regardless of the world copper price, the latter is just a bonus.
This is what a good futuristic tax regime brings to an economy, remember copper prices go through cycles but on average there are more good times than bad times so we should not be short sighted in our planning. As your example Chile has shown us, it is very important to nurture industry if you want to reap long term, sustainable benefits.
MrK, if you are going to reply to this, I challenge you to quote verifiable figures as we cannot debate important economic matters on hearsay, innuendos and downright lies. It is people like who would like to make…
v. MrK, if you are going to reply to this, I challenge you to quote verifiable figures as we cannot debate important economic matters on hearsay, innuendos and downright lies. It is people like who would like to make citizens think that the mining industry in Zambia does not pay tax when in fact it does, and what differs is the type of taxes applied from country to country to achieve a specific objective.
Fact: all mines in Chile are state owned. Fact: if Zambia received $4 billion from the mining industry, it would be out of debt, the Kwacha would go to 1,000 to the US dollar, and pretty much all economic worries would be over. As it is, the foreign mines take money and value out of the economy, and the Zambian people are contributing to them, not the other way around like in Chile.
Google: Chilean nationalization of copper wikipedia
Article 1 of the Chilean Mining Code[4] states that “The State has absolute, exclusive, inalienable and imprescriptible ownership of all mines”
#49 please man where do you read these things. there are privately owned mines in chile. jsut read. in fact for your information privately owned mines performed better than gov owned mines in chile