The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) is expected to send tax audit teams to all media organizations to establish tax compliance.
In an attempt to dispel assertions that it is targeting Prime television, following the circulation of a letter by Prime Television, ZRA said that it had in fact written to all media organizations.
Some media organizations have since had meetings with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services, Permanent Secretary, Amos Malupenga to ensure that the process was done after the COVID-19 crisis.
The letters were sent to ZNBC, Times of Zambia, Daily Mail, and other private media organizations dated 20th March 2020 stating that the tax audit team’s areas of interest will include establishing the companies’ tax compliance to; Value Added Tax(VAT), Income Tax, Pay As You Earn(PAYE), With-holding Tax and Property Transfer Taxes.
The tax audit teams will examine the periods between 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2019.
Management of the media houses has been advised to make available various documents including Trial balance for the financial periods, detailed payroll information, import purchase orders, payment vouchers for imports and local purchases, Goods Delivery Notes, Stock Management Sheets, and schedules of all assets bought during the period.
ZRA has also requested companies to give the tax audit teams access to documents, electronic systems and those it may request.
ZRA has also notified Management of media houses that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the teams will physically visit the premises later, and the companies should prepare for the tax audit work and provide details of persons the appointed audit teams will work with including tax agents if any.
Below is Sample letter
Investigations are carried out where u suspect that something wrong has been committed. Is ZRA saying telling Zambians they hv not been to media houses since 2015 to ensure tax compliance? Hard to believe the target is not just Prime tv.
Definitely the target is prime TV. This system of targeting zambian companies by the useless PF govt must stop. What can govt tell the country of the benefits the country reaped from closure of the Post newspaper? Stop this nonsense. The corrupt ZRA has not been conducting audits from 2015 this is the reason the country is losing out on revenue while parastatal companies still owe huge sums of money in taxes not paid especially PAYE and VAT.
This is long overdue. Every citizen who works and meets thresholds has to pay tax so why should some selfish individuals or businesses think they are above the law or better than you and me. Well done go after them.
Why does this guy always write lubbish. Is it a condition?
I suspect mental issues, because you yourself you cant churn out labbish after labbish. Because a person must have some measure of level, to say this is wrong this is right, and this applies to opposition people as well, don’t behave like this guy who just tows party or government position. There must be objectivity in what ever we do in life and to discern and acknowledge when in the wrong lane.
You’re a total id1ot
@ Nemwine, surely, one must wonder, has there been no tax review since 2015?
And it appears that ZRA now is a weapon against Private Media. In order for this to be legit, they must publish results from ALL the targeted companies, including the State owned.
I will be VERY surprised if ZNBC or Daily Mail have been tax compliant.
PF is targeting Prime TV for sure.
The Auditor Generals annual reports from 2011 – 2019 have irrefutable documented evidence that ZNBC, Times of Zambia and Daily Mail have regularly failed to remit statutory obligations such as PAYE and VAT.
ZRA must “IMMEDIATELY” clamp down on ZNBC, Times of Zambia and Daily Mail before any other media institution.
DON’T TAKE US ZAMBIANS FOR FOOLS
Let ZRA target Prime Media. … It is a company too…needs to be audited. What is wrong with targeting. Without a target you cant hit anything..can you..
The target is known, the others have just been put there to disguise. We know public media houses are already in default even before the audit starts. It will be very interesting to see that report.
ZRA to close Prime TV
This is the weakest government ever known in the history of Zambia, trying to intimidate the opponents like this is very retrogressive, we are living in pluralism where we differ to build not kill each other. After hounding Prime TV what next? Will life improve for this regime?
I said it the moment Sata came into power in 2011 that the birth of pain in Zambia started from there, that party symbol alone pamaka is to intimidate. I can assure the PF dwarfs that your time is coming and approaching very fast.
Correct, Sata was a disaster while Lungu is a catastrophe
Last kicks of a dying horse PF kuya bebele your time is up.
It’s clear that Prime TV is targeted here. The others are just being used to make the whole thing look legitimate. Shame you ZRA for allowing yourself to be used as a weapon to beat perceived PF enemies.
These are going. You cant fail in everything and expect to survive. But what makes me awake in the night is imagining that they want to come back in 2021, in the midst of complete failure. Hard cores ehh, kufwa na no
Targeting critics using ZRA will not fix load shedding, will not fix high food prices, will not fix unemployment, will not fix debt …..
That is the reality for corrupt clueless oppressive regimes………reality is knocking on your door PF and lungu
Why media houses now, because the PS wants to fix his perceived enemies. We thought everyone is supposed to pay tax. Stop pushing your luck too far. How much tax had Top Star been paying?
When power becomes too “sweet” know that something is wrong.
Why not just go to Prime TV we know that’s who PF is targeting!
Will wait and see what the audit findings on ZNBC, Times of Zambia, Zambia daily mail will be. These are the biggest culprits and not the small and progressive media houses.
Ba KZ, while it is Govt’s duty to collect tax and it is every citizen and company’s duty to pay tax we should not consider this as a punishment. When you use terms such as “Go after them’ you are already biased in assessing the situation. All companies are expected to be audited. This is why companies have internal auditors whose job is to ensure that their company complies with the requirements of the law. Sometimes opportunities such as the one that arose during the Govt’s plea for media to help Govt sensitize the citizens on Covid 19. The behaviour of one owner of prime TV, gives the opportunity to audit concerned media houses. It is common knowledge/practice even in the criminal justice when you catch a thief/suspect or there is strange behaviour, you search to see if the…
… If the criminal has not committed any other offense. So sometimes criminals give themselves away through their behaviour guess what they get caught.
The vultures are on you PRIME TV. RUN!!!
I love and listen to Prime TV news everyday.
In as much as this move stinks of politics, ZRA is legally mandated to carry out statutory audits, when and to who they decide to do the statutory audit on is their business. For us Prime TV lovers which ever way we condemn the move, ZRA will go ahead to do it’s job.
I know everyone’s like they will do to Prime TV what they did to The Post Newspapers and Post Courier. I say yeah, The Post was LESSON and EXAM that all Media houses critical to the government of the day should LEARN and PASS with flying colours.
I’d like point out that we should make ZRA part of the institutions that can fight theft and abuse of public funds. I mean, what’s a more better way to catch a corrupt thief than through his/her taxes receipts or lack thereof?
Yes, tax has 2b collected but even more important, govt has to spend the money so collected wisely. To emphasize only one side, that is, tax compliance is not the full story. Granted that is not ZRA’s business but Lungu’s. But spending tax kwacha wisely isn’t one thing you can depend on Lungu.
Its laughable how you respond to the Impostor in anger you are just feeding the troll…tomorrow he will come back supporting UPND just like that as that what he does, he is just here to decamp PF the more you hate Kz.
The PF are targeting Prime TV.
The Auditor Generals annual reports from 2011-2019 have irrefutable evidence that ZNBC,Times of Zambia and Daily Mail have regularly failed to remit statutory obligations such as PAYE and VAT.ZRA must “IMMEDIATELY” clamp down on ZNBC,Times of Zambia and Daily Mail before any other media institution.THE PF SHOULD NOT TAKE ZAMBIANS FOR FOOLS.
2021 is around the corner and the systematic purge of all independent media has begun, in the disguise of Tax audits.
Tarino that is funny because there is no need to decampaign pf when upnd will never win an election. What is the point? I might as well employ my daughter to deal with upnd. That is how finished and pathetic the party is since mazoka sadly died.
Is it just me or have you also noticed that when there is something dodgy someone ‘ACTING’ takes up the task? Why is this? Any Public Administrators and lawyers to shed light on this from a professional and legal perspective? OK I will be careful about lawyers cifukwa masiku wano ni cokako weka ku ma contempt mama…
Times of Zambia has certainly defaulted but ZRA will do nothing about that. They can’t even pay their staff for a year and government just watches instead of liquidating them like what happened to the post