Finance and National Planning Minister SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE today hosted a strategic visioning meeting for top management of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA). The Minister took the opportunity to congratulate newly appointed Commissioner General DINGANI BANDA and urged him to oversee the establishment of a tax administration system that has the resilience to meet the aspirations of all stakeholders, particularly the taxpaying community.
He emphasized the need for the ZRA to ensure that all borders are modernized so that they are more client-friendly; enhance revenue collection; and, become models of international best practice in tax administration.
“Ensure that you reduce the queues at tax paying points and remove chaos at all borders so that there is order and better service for the tax paying public,” Dr Musokotwane instructed Mr Banda and his delegation.
He also urged ZRA to improve customer service and ensure that there is equity, fairness, and decorum in the treatment of all tax payers.
Mr Banda was accompanied to the strategic visioning meeting held at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning Headquarter in Lusaka by Peter Phiri – Commissioner (Direct Taxes), Moses Shuko – Commissioner (Indirect Taxes & Excise), Sydney Chibbabbuka – Commissioner (Customs), Bridget Muyenga – Commissioner (Finance) and Ezekiel Phiri (Director, Research & Strategy).
The Minister, who was accompanied by Permanent Secretary for Budget and Economic Affairs, Mukuli Chikuba, and Director of Budget, Joseph Nonde, tasked the Commissioner General to ensure that tax revenue performance was improved. He also urged ZRA to ensure that tax revenue performance is measured against parameters such as tax revenue to GDP ratio – an international benchmark which enables objective comparison of Zambia’s tax revenue performance with that of other tax administrations.
After listening to the segment on some of the issues affecting ZRA’s service delivery, the Minister pledged the Government’s commitment to priority areas such as the dismantling of K36.2 billion VAT refund arrears, limiting revenue leakages by leveraging on the interface between the Government Service Bus (GSB) and ZRA systems with key stakeholder institutions. The session also touched on the need to build on the success of the Mineral Value Chain Monitoring Project.
Dr Musokotwane advised ZRA to schedule their requirements according to priorities and “take due consideration of issues like impact on the taxpaying public; revenue performance; and, competitiveness with other jurisdictions in the region and beyond.”
Mr Banda thanked the Republican President Hakainde Hichilema, through the Minister, for the opportunity that has been accorded to him to serve as the Commissioner General for ZRA.
He pledged to provide leadership at ZRA and work towards attaining the expectations as outlined by the Minister of Finance and National Planning.
This bunch of jokers never cease to amuse… Lol. Of everything else ques worried you the most??
Situmbeko has very outdated data. We don’t queue to pay our taxes,, we pay online. Most ZRA services are online. So which queues is he talking about? He’s still dreaming about the mess he left under RB. Every 10th, 14th and 21st of each month used to see queues of people at ZRA to pay or submit their returns. There’s nothing like that now. This is the problem of bringing back to life ancient effigies. You can’t teach an old d0g new tricks. That’s why he’s running to he IMF because those were the economics they learnt in the 70s. Things have changed. Then man they fired transformed ZRA. Shame on you
Read well Ayatollah
Ayatollah the minister addressed the queues on boarders…read to understand
Another rat on the rampage critising the minister, read and understand. This is not special paper two.
Please ZRA Chief relieve that ‘team’ you went with to visit the minister..including their cronies in stations… they don’t mean well for you… some thought they would be in your position to continue looting… you have been advised
Like seriously is this what they’re worried about….Zambians are hungry…they want Jobs…stop load shedding….give them free education…give them fertilizer at K250…stop enabling corruption…Milingo Lungu is free and his loot intact….UPND is shielding thieves because they want to do the same thing too…they want to steal…period…I told you that HH is a bigger Bandit than Lungu…
I just dont understand how these Deputies like DINGANI BANDA can do any different …this is how Sdney Mupeta and Victor Mudenda got their jobs they were no. 2 who had been there for a long time part of the system…what’s so difficult in bringing someone new to bring new ideas on to the table.
Zambians were queuing for mealie meal and fuel during PF rule so who are you to criticize Musokotwane on this one? Bunch of hypocrite f00lz.
Saulosi – The reason is the Judiciary and these Defence wings are still contaminated with LAZY Lungu’s henchmen…you can not fire corruption with the very men that benefitted from it….the DPP is still the same!!
@4 Martin Mulubwa, Situmbeko raised 2 issues ie queues at tax pay points and congestion at borders. I import goods often and pre-clear my consignments as soon as I receive the bill of landing. Documents are ready before the truck crosses Beit Bridge or leaves Dar es Salaam. I don’t travel to the border but I do it online in collaboration with agents. Those that come through KKIA either NAC2000 or Global Logistics handle that for me. Are we on same page?
@Ayatollah: you speak like a 100yr old mwankole without wings. Iwe chisilu iwe , while you clear things online sitted in yo stolen house in Forest 27, do you think your driver crosses the border while driving in gear 5?
@ we voted him out,
Kikikiki,you hit the nail on the head.
Fimwankole always on the opposing side..
Employ more officers then. Otherwise the situation will remain the same or even worse.
@12, when people don’t have anything sensible to say in a debate they resort to insults. I’m not your size or type
@15 Ayatollah
Exactly my friend and especially UPND die hards…they like insulting fellow bloggers who are being objective…
Ayatollah Khomeini this is not Iran….kikiki
Ayatollah what size or type are you? I can only guess.
GOOD ZRA IS BEING SORTED OUT AT BORDERS
FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT FREQUENT TRAVELLERS DONT KNOW AND POST RECKLESS COMMENTS
MORE REFORMS COMING FROM THE ZRA DEBACLE
WATCH THIS SPACE
The MMD dinosaur has resurrected and thinks ZRA business is still done the way it used to be done before the Big Bang by PF.
Another Big Bang is eminent !
Its important also to observe in this Budget year that Tax measures that seeks to reduce revenues, increase tax breaks in the race to bottom and at the same time reducing expenditures drastically without due consideration of fiscal multipliers to increase growth projected growth beyond 2% outlook will see reduced growth The budgetary balance is reveling and therefore also the sustainability of the debt and restructure on long-term fiscal plans beyond 2022 Fiscal plans in those short-term funding and financing methods